Transcript
With us on coaches corner KWBG going to put a wrap on the Boon cross country season. Cass Warson joining us as the Torridors. A couple of girls finished at state boys team finished at the state qualifying meet. Coach want to start with the girls and obviously with Whitney and Briella at state. I got to tell you what, I thought a fantastic job by both sophomores. Were they were able to finish and the time at state as well? Yeah, both girls went into finish top 30 as their goal. I know last time we talked about, there was a question about goals and stuff and really had a chance to talk to Briella about her goal but both of them kind of had the same goal of being top 30. I know Briella kind of wanted to try and make the award stand and stuff and when I had, when I had to tell her that, well you kind of have to split that 30 and a half to make that. She was like, oh maybe not but I thought top 30 was definitely doable for both of them and Whit just snuck into that to that 29th spot. So she finished 34th last year so that was improvement. She also improved by 11 seconds on that course compared to last year and you know I think both were kind of hurting going into state week, you know, with the fatigue of running that district course that winter set and it just kind of took some preparation to make sure that they were fresh going into state. Well, and I thought what else was big too, coaches, is experience there. Sometimes just running on that course is going to help you a ton and the fact that these girls are both sophomores and they get opportunities now to qualify again for two more years. Cass, that's got to be super reassuring not just looking ahead to next year but the next couple years. Yeah, and one of the things I told them like anything can happen at state, you know, people that should be who you would think would be up toward the front can fall toward the middle part of the pack and it just determines or depends on how you go out and then and run your race. You know, for the last two years, we've been trying to catch Alexis from North Polk and both Briella and Whit beat her at the state qualifier and then they both beat her again at state and it just kind of kind of comes down to who's feeling who's feeling at their best at that point of the season and how do they choose to run their race because you can have a freshman go out at state and they go, they try to go out with the top dog and then they just end up dropping 30, 40 places to finish their race and that's not exactly how you want to run it. It's a little bit of a smarter race you have to run and, you know, I thought Whitney and Briella both did a tremendous job running that race where they continually built up passing people throughout the race, throughout miles one and two, where some others maybe they lost up to about 30, 35 places throughout the race to finish because Whitney ended up passing 20 people total from that first mile mark to the very end and Briella, I think it was 13 positions. So, you know, that's about how you want your race to go, is that you're the one passing people and not the one being passed in that last mile or two. Well, you lose a couple of great seniors from this year's squad with Emma Thomas and obviously Brie Morgan. Coach, you do return a pretty healthy amount though of girls for next year. I know 2027 is a ways away when we start talking about cross country again, but even if you just kind of take a little peak toward next year, you're gonna be kind of excited about what's coming back for this girls program. Yeah, you know, I'm always positive when it comes to looking at the numbers coming back and who's coming back. And, you know, when we've got members like Whitney, Briella, Regan, and them, it's like, you know, they've had that success in their careers and they kind of know what it takes to be a state qualifier and be a part of a successful program. That it's just hopefully something that they can build in as a leader, as a leader on their team to lead some of those younger girls coming in. I mean, we had a couple, two or three come in this season being freshmen and so it's just kind of a learning experience of, okay, we're losing Emma, we're losing Brie. So now it just kind of comes down to, all right, next girl up, one, to be a part of that top seven on the course, but also to kind of be, all right, who's gonna lead us now. So that's just gonna be kind of the next step next year as to who's gonna kind of help lead this team to kind of find the success that the girls want to find next season. Boys side, it was your first year as head coach with the boys program coach. You had an opportunity, you had a couple of youngsters I thought really had, you know, really solid seasons. Jonathan Myers comes to mind, Austin Felder as well, both underclassmen. Cam Lehmann, I also had a real nice season for you. You're gonna be losing a rather large senior class when you look at the boys, but there are some youngsters coach that are coming back and there's always that possibility of getting some kids that weren't out this year to maybe come out next season. Yeah, you know, having not coached the boys for last four years, or yeah, last four years, like I have the girls, the boys are a little bit of a mystery to me and maybe it'll, maybe things will click here in another season or two as I continually get to know the boys, both at the middle school and at the high school level. Because, you know, like last year was my first year coaching Austin in high school track and I thought he came out and did a tremendous job for his first season running across country because he did football last year. And the hope is is we get him back again next season. But, you know, I'm not really sure who I'm gonna get back next year and we graduate four seniors, so I know I'm not getting those four back. But, you know, we were talking off air is that it just kind of starts at the middle school level as if we can continually build that program down at junior high and then those numbers can stay out to continue at the high school level. Because that's basically what not just the boys team, but even the girls team is going to need is a little bit more depth. And I see that as how we're going to continually try to be successful in both programs is if we can kind of have that depth of numbers. If you look at just about any other team at the conference, they've got somewhere around 20 plus runners for both sides. And, you know, they can afford to lose maybe one or two runners in their top seven to be replaced by someone else. And we just don't quite have the numbers to be able to do that and continue to be successful in our races. Cass, you had an opportunity to use a couple of eighth graders this past season. This was the first year that that was made eligible eighth graders could participate in varsity. You saw it at the state meet too. We had a ton of eighth graders that did fantastic jobs in all the classes. A, what do you think of having the eighth graders up this year and B, do you think this will continue?
I, you know, I think it will, but I think it also just depends on their development. If they're strong enough to be able to run or to sustain a 5k without feeling like they're dying at 4k or even just the two mile, because that's what middle schoolers run is two miles further across country race. But I mean, it's got to be a smart decision as to whether they're, whether they're strong enough to come up. And that's really what I was looking at when I, when I tried out the three middle schoolers before our time trial at the beginning of the season, because I wanted to know, like, you know, I can't just bring up a middle schooler and have them run JV all season when they could be having some success at the, at the middle school level. But Chloe and Ace, I thought did really well coming up for their first season. And I kind of look at it as a development stage too, as to, okay, they've got a taste of what it, what it takes to run a 5k. And, um, you know, at that eighth grade stage, maybe, maybe it just comes down to, they need to strengthen their bodies up a little more so that they're able to handle that 5k race a little better than they did this year. And I mean, I think that just comes with weight room stuff. And, uh, you kind of focus on that a little bit more during the off season. So, um, I think it also just comes down to whether they, uh, whether they know that, um, with the knowledge of being a distance runner or even just an athlete overall, that the weight room is important. And that's why we, uh, we do our summer weight training stuff with middle schoolers. It's very true. Very true. Coach, as always, thank you so much. Great season. Appreciate all the interviews, all the results. And, uh, we'll look forward to talking to you with Cross Country coming up again next season. Hey, I appreciate all the coverage. Um, but I still think, cause I know we talked off air about this, is that we really need to get you a drone so that you can actually cover Cross Country meets alive. You want the play by play, don't you, Kaz? Hey, hey, I, I mean, you know, you, you can see how races turn out just by the results I send you, but it's really different when you're there in person and you're watching the, the race live. He wants the drone. There's a whole different, there's a whole different kind of excitement when you're right there. He wants the drone guys. We'll check the budget. Kaz wars it again, joining us Cross Country here on coaches, corner.
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