This Saturday marked the start of a new season for the HSM Cross Country team, and with the new year comes a fresh start for some runners and a new start for others! The team has worked unbelievably hard this year to make sure that they are prepared to accomplish every single goal that they have set for themselves, and for both the boys and the girls team the thought of raising that state championship trophy in November is at the forefront of their minds!

     

     Both the boys and girls team are bringing back a full roster of seasoned veterans that know what it takes to reach that ultimate goal, and they are joined by some new team members that are thirsty to get a taste of what Holy Savior Menard Cross Country is all about. This weekend to kick off the start of the season they traveled to a new course for them, The Gospel course, in Choudrant. The results that both teams got were just a preview of what is to come this season!

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Girls: 

     The girls team ran first and they began the season with a bang! With 3 members finishing in the top 10 and 5 in the top 20 they were able to bring home a 2nd place team finish for HSM! Kannin Cole began her Sophomore season with a statement 3rd place individual finish and gave us all a preview of what is to come for the rest of the year with a run of 20:52.29! Only 13 seconds over her PR in the first race of the year, she looks to do major things this season leading the team that named her a captain this summer. Next across the line was a pair of Seniors Emma DeRosa and Quinn Brown in 4th and 8th place respectively. Over the course of the last 5 years these two girls have put their hearts and souls into this team and they look to finish their high school careers on a high note. Emma, running 21:23 in her first meet, looks to improve upon the PR she set last year of 20:37 and is on a great path by running a faster first meet time than she did last year! Quinn also showed off her impressive veteran running chops by running a great time of 22:07! She will undoubtedly serve her team as a leader and captain well. Sophomore Chesney Mathews was 4th on the HSM team, finishing 16th in the race she ran a time of 23:46, faster than her first race last year and setting her up for a huge second season on the HSM squad. Finishing in 5th for the Lady Eagles was Amie Cochran with a top 20 individual finish and a time of 24:28! Amie is going into her Junior season and is looking to make it her best yet, making a strong step forward with her performance this week. finishing 6th and 7th ( 24:53 and 25:51) for the team was Claire Callis and Abbey Scalisi, both of whom continue to grow as runners in their 8th and 9th grade years. Both of them have experience running on the big stages with the varsity team and will continue to get better and better. Ava Laroux, in what was her first actual 3 mile competition after injury cut her 7th grade season short, ran a great time of 25:53 and without a doubt will continue to see that PR drop lower every week. Kerigan Garsaud came across the line next with a time of 26:45, and although she didn't run the time she wanted felt strong about the way she ran the race. She has a lot more in the tank for the upcoming season. Caroline Crooks, our lone 7th grader on the high school team this year, ran a very strong time of 27:51 improving her PR from last week by 30 seconds. Every race she gets under her belt will result in faster and faster times. Mia Parrish wrapped up the girls team this week with a time of 30:52, and as she continues to work back to where she ended last season she will undoubtedly improve in leaps and bounds! Great job ladies and keep up the good work!!!

   

Boys:

     Following the girls fantastic performance the boys took to the course looking to improve upon the ladies stellar outing. They took their spots on the line and when the starting gun was fired there was to be no doubt what was on their minds... victory or bust. It would be VICTORY on this day and it would come with the amazing efforts of the entire team. With the top five runners all finishing within 31 seconds of each other the entire team was a standout, and with 6 of the 18 boys putting up new PRs the Eagles showed what it truly means to SOAR! Finishing 1st across the line the the Eagles, 8th overall as an individual, was Noah Gad who improved his PR from last year by 1:59 seconds!!!!!! His time this week puts Noah #45 on the ALL TIME LIST for Menard, joining his teammates Charles Beard, Mikey DeRosa, and Carter Byers who are already in the top 50. Establishing himself during last years track season as a dominant 800 runner, Noah has committed to XC this year and looks to make himself a force to be reckoned with at the state level. 2nd for the Eagles was newcomer to the XC team Cayden Gorham. As an 8th grader that moved to be a part of the HSM family at the end of the season last year this was his first official race for the team, and he did not disappoint with a time of 18:06 and an 11th place individual run. This time moves Cayden in the 10th fastest tie run by an 8th grader in Menard history!!! Team captain Charles Beard raced with Cayden right down to the finish and finished behind him by a nose hair, also running 18:06 and in 12th place. Charles will look to get back to his normal form at the top of the pack in the coming weeks, but is certainly enjoying the success of his teammates as they make the slow push towards state! Joining his fellow 8th grader near the top of the squad was Austin Siebeneicher, who shaved an entire 1:02 from his previous PR by running 18:09 and finishing 13th. Austin had an incredible 7th grade season, even making a state meet appearance, but he looks to blow that season out of the water this year as his time already places him right behind Cayden as the 11th fastest time by an 8th Grader in HSM history. Wrapping up the top 5 for the HSM Eagles was Carter Byers breakfast... shortly followed by the runner himself! At 18:22 he was 14th overall and only a mere 20 second off of his PR! He will certainly look to drop that time next weekend when the team goes to Ward 9 in Pineville! His Sophomore season looks to be something amazing in the works and its going to be a ton of fun! Mikey DeRosa was next for the guys, and although he wasn't happy with his time of 18:42, he knows that there are much greater times in his future! (his last time trial of the summer was sub-18) As a Sophomore himself he looks to take a huge step forward this year from where he left off last year and be a pivotal part of a team with State Championships on his mind! Next across the finish line was Matthew Hawthorne, who ended last year on a hot streak and looks to continue it into this season! With a time of 19:39, his 3rd fastest race ever, Matthew picks up this season right where he left off and shows the team he is ready to make that next jump forward into the upper echelon of the HSM team. With his fastest race time prior to this year being 21:15, Michael Gad had big expectations for himself going into this year. He, like his twin brother Noah, made a huge commitment to his training this summer and he is now seeing the fruits of that labor! Michael joined the 19 minute club this week by running 19:56 and crushing his previous PR! David Shepherd, Landry McGlothin, and Jake Noda were the next 3 runners for the Eagles and each of them are looking to earn and keep their spot in that top 10 group for the end of the season! Running 20:32, 20:50, and 20:50 these three guys each have huge motivation to keep getting faster and faster each week and the competition will certainly be one that drives them to new PRs! Adam Traczewitz, another newcomer to the team, finished his race with a new PR of 22:43! This blows his old PR away by almost a minute and he will continue to improve with experience. Fynn Raborn returns to the team this year with a HUGE first meet, missing his PR by a mere 12 seconds, running 22:49! Fynn will also be looking to break into that 20 minute club this year with his eyes on a big future with the team. Seth Soprano was next for the guys running 23:56, and John Eric Laborde made his XC debut right behind at 24:16. The lone 7th grader on the boys team Simon Chapman stepped up in a huge way to a big stage and didn't disappoint at all! Running 25:02 he set himself a mark that he will whittle down throughout the year. He has a bright future in front of him for sure! Jansen Fairbanks and Michael Whitehead wrapped up the boys teams with times of 26:28 and 27:28! Great Job guys and lets keep getting better each week!

 

 

Full results can be found here:

 

Boys: HERE  

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Girls: HERE

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Coaches interview: HERE 

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