Season Preview: Whiteoak cross-country ready to compete
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The 2017 Whiteoak Wildcats cross-country season is set to begin, with the two teams having a total of 14 runners in the program. Those teams include 10 boys and five girls.
Neither the boys or girls teams have a senior on the roster, but WHS does have six juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen on the boys roster. There is one junior and three freshmen on the girls roster.
Juniors for the WHS boys team are: Hunter Morgan, Atlee Carr, Zack DeAtley, Logan Cummings, Jacob Campbell and Josh Graybeal. The sophomores are Cody Everhart and Gavin Tebo. New to the program are freshmen Gabe Sheppard and Trace Thompson.
“Our goal is to always peak at the end of the season,” WHS head coach Doug Hughes said. “Our boys have a chance to be the best Whiteoak team in a long time. They want to compete as part of one of the top teams in the league and be a contending team come district time.”
For the girls, their junior runner is Katie Ames, while the freshmen runners are Kayla Jones, Morgan Evans, Ariel Farahay and Kara Ward.
The WHS boys team lost no runners from last season, while the girls team lost four to graduation.
Coach Hughes — who is beginning his 14th season as the WHS cross-country head coach — also spoke about the offseason for the Wildcats.
“Summer as always is hit and miss, but several runners came to everything and look to be ready for the season to begin,” he said. "Our kids are getting stronger and more acclimated to our course.”