This year’s Coronado Islander cross country roster has thirty runners; half from last year’s team and the rest new to the program. With so many new runners, it’s a bit early to tell how we’ll fare for the season. The top returning runners for the boys are Nathan Ayan, Jack Letcher, Xavier Marsh, and Tyler Horton.
A scoring cross country team has five runners whose place in a race determines the teams’ score and two “pushers” who push back the score of the opposing teams.
Of the new runners, juniors Vincent Russo, who ran for Crofton High School in Maryland last season, and Andrew Buck, who ran for Canyon Hills last year, seem to have the best credentials to make the seven-runner varsity squad. However, six unknowns could step up.
The girls’ team returns five of the seven runners who qualified for the state meet led by junior Morgan Maske last year. She’s backed up by sophs Maeson Everitt, Gwynne Letcher, Nadia Roos, and senior Jaya Jost. As for the rest of the team, six freshmen and one senior could step up.
Last Saturday, we took a few runners who were ready for a race to the Bronco Invite. Ayan and Letcher turned in the top boys’ performances in the two-mile D2 varsity race, placing 14th and 24th respectively, with 10:56 and 11:17. In the girls’ D2 two-mile varsity race, Maske and Letcher placed 6th and 7th respectively with times of 12:51 and 13:06.
Find action photos of this meet on our photo site.
Our next meet will be the Raven Invite, hosted by Canyon Hills High School this Saturday.