The 2018 North Union boy’s cross-country team is listed in the front row, from the left: Dalton Skaggs, Joel Krebehenne, Zak Kratowicz, Adam Brown, Aiccardo Cantori and Lino Bender. Second row, from the left: Matt Millington, Mark Plotner, Gage Burggraf, Josh Cahill, Brennan Griffith and John Popovich. Row three, from the left: coach Penny Cunningham, Nathan Matlack, Jacob Willis, Casey Rensel, Chris Isler and coach Fred Holsinger.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
––––
North Union’s cross-country runners are ready to take on this year’s schedule as they enter the Central Buckeye Conference with a team that has plenty of experience on their side.
“Our strengths, for both boys and girls, is our experience,” said coach Fred Holsinger. “Our running age is high. Even among freshmen and sophomores, most of our kids have 3-5 years of racing experience.”
The Wildcats will field a team of 18 runners with only seven underclassmen runners. They will be returning Adam Brown, Gabe Burggraf, Brennan Griffith, Chris Isler, Zak Kratowicz, Joel Krebehenne, Dalton Skaggs and Jacob Willis as letter winners from last year.
Holsinger said all of them have the potential to run 17 to 18 minute races. This gives the Wildcats a good shot at being competitive in their new league.
“I had one eye on the CBC last year as we were finishing our run in the (Mid Ohio Athletic Conference) and I believe that we are the favorites for boys and girls,” he said.
Giving the girls the competive edge will be the return of their top runners from last season, Kamryn Rhodes, Ashlee Kohler and Libby Ardrey. The trio all received All-MOAC honors and Rhodes was able to take second place at the end-of-the-season conference run.
Although the Lady Cats are small with only a seven-runner roster, Holsinger believes experience is still on their side.
“Our girls team is small,” he said. “Fortunately, they all have experience and we expect a strong, balanced team.”
With confidence high for both squads Holsinger is looking beyond the conference for his runners this year.
“I expect that we will have runners qualify for the regional meet and I think the state meet is a possibility for Kamryn Rhodes, Adam Brown and possibly the boys team,” he said.
Now all that is left for the running Wildcats will be their entrance into the CBC, which took place when North Union opened up their season with a dual meet at Benjamin Logan on Tuesday.