COLBY, Kan. — Chris Giersch has been involved in Colby High School cross country for nearly 15 years. Spending four seasons as an assistant, he is now entering his 10th as the head man. This year’s team returns four seniors; two boys and two girls. As well as a state qualifier on each side.
Senior Ryan Voss enters his final year with the Eagles coming off of a nice showing at the State Meet in Lawrence. Voss’s time of 17:50 slotted him at 25th in 3A a season ago, while Lara Murdock comes in looking for a state title this season. The now Junior finished second in 3A a year ago, less than four seconds back of the state champion.
Voss and Murdock may lead the Eagles on the course, but they will rely on the other three seniors for leadership as well. Trey Stramel, as well as Brittany Foss and Jill Stephens will help to develop the Colby squad this season.
On the boys side, there are a total of 11 student-athletes, while at the moment, just four girls are slated to compete for Coach Giersch, who cited the three other options for girls sports as a partial reason for the turnout. However, Giersch was optimistic that the number would increase by the end of the first few weeks of practice.
Giersch spoke very highly of the chemistry between the entire team, stating that the practice atmosphere was very competitive and that both the boys and girls pushed each other to be better as a team.
As the team looks to its 2019 schedule, a number of meets present opportunities to compete against large fields. Giersch highlighted the Wamego and Sand Plum Invitational meets as challenges for some of the younger runners who have never run in events that size before.
The Eagles will start their season on September 5th at Goodland, but with a few weeks to go until their debut, Coach Giersch is adamant the team must improve both their form and their conditioning. With the August temperatures being so high, the team has been practicing in the much more manageable heat of the mornings at this point in the year, but plan to slowly ease into the heat and other conditions that could cause variance in running times throughout the season.
Stay tuned for Colby Cross Country updates all season long on NWKSradio.com.
2019 Colby Cross Country Schedule:
Sep. 5 – (V/JV) 5:00 p.m. @ Goodland
Sep. 12 – (V) 4:30 p.m. @ Quinter
Sep. 14 – (V) 9:00 a.m. @ Wamego
Sep. 19 – (V/JV) 3:00 p.m. @ FHSU Sand Plum Invitational
Sep. 26 – (V) 5:00 p.m. @ Hill City
Oct. 1 – (V) 5:00 p.m. @ Oberlin
Oct. 10 – (V) 4:30 p.m. @ Phillipsburg
Oct. 17 – (V) 4:00 p.m. @ GWAC Meet, Scott City
Oct. 26 – (V) TBD @ Regional Meet, Location TBD
Nov. 2 – (V) 9:00 a.m. @ State Meet, Rim Rock Farm, Lawrence
featured image courtesy of Colby High School
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