The Fairbanks High School girls cross-country team is pictured from left, front row, Annika Parks, Lily Demeter and Alandra Bosworth; back row, Linsey Eddy, Amelia Cameron, Elizabeth Reinhard and Rachael Hoover. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Fairbanks High School’s cross-country teams are seemingly at the opposite end of the spectrum.
The Lady Panthers are a veteran outfit, while the boys are relatively young.
The girls team will be led by seniors Amelia Cameron, Linsey Eddy and Annika Parks.
Cameron is the current school record holder. She is a three-year letter winner, along with Eddy and Parks.
“Amelia’s goals are to improve the school record time along with qualifying for the state meet and finishing her senior season strong in November,” said coach Mike Van Winkle.
“Linsey and Annika bring a ton of leadership and experience to the team,” he said. “They really are the motivators.
“They have seen it all and done it all and understand the tradition of the program.”
Junior Lily Demeter is a two-year letterman.
“Lily is looking to make an impact this season,” said Van Winkle. “She will likely move up to be our number four runner and score impactful points meet-to-meet.”
First-year runners include junior Alondra Bosworth, sophomore Elizebeth Reinhard and freshman Rachael Hoover.
“Alondra and Elizebeth are new to the sport,” said Van Winkle. “We are hoping to keep them healthy across the entire season.
“Rachael is coming into her freshman season after being the record holder for our middle school team.
“She is pacing herself with Amelia and has similar goals of running at the state meet in November.
“This team was able to experience qualifying for the state meet a year ago,” said Van Winkle. “This season’s goals are not as ambitious, but the team still has some fire power.
“Winning our invitational in September will be a good challenge and test to see how strong this team can be.
“I would expect them to finish strong at the district meet with a possible team qualification for the regional meet,” he said.
On the other hand, the Panther boys will have a number of new faces.
They include senior Trey Good, who left football to run cross-country.
“Trey is our only senior,” said Van Winkle. “He’s happy to be back to training after the cancelation of spring track and field.
“Trey is looking to use this season to help his fitness for the winter indoor track season and next spring.”
Other first-year runners are junior Kaleb Bosworth, sophomores Teagan Green and Jake Predmore and freshman Nicholas Powell.
Veteran runners are sophomores Nathan Parks and Caleb Wenger.
“I think the team goals reflect the experience on the team as they are young,” said Van Winkle. “Over the last couple weeks of practice, the strength of this team has been pack running.
“I expect they will stay packed up in races, especially early,” he said. “That will be a benefit in scoring meets. They will improve together and I doubt they will finish last at any of their meets this season.
“Nathan Parks is our most experienced runner on the team and was elected a team captain because of that experience,” said the coach.
“Caleb Wenger was a dual-sport athlete last year, playing soccer and running for us,” said Van Winkle.
Bosworth is described as a talented runner. He and Good were part of the school record-setting 4 x 200 relay team from the 2019 track season that finished on the podium at the state meet.
Green is new to the sport. He is a wrestler who is looking to make fitness gains from cross-country.
Predmore and Powell both ran in middle school and are beginning their first high school seasons.
Members of Fairbanks’ boys cross-country team are from left from row, Jake Predmore, Nathan Parks and Teagen Green; second row, Nicolas Powell, Trey Good, Kaleb Bosworth and Caleb Wenger. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)