Cross Country teams look back on 2011 season
Posted by The Skyliner on November 17th, 2011Billy Cannada
Senior Writer
A breakout season and some new faces are turning the cross-country teams into a force to be reckoned with.
A year full of firsts saw North Greenville finish on top in two of their six regular season meets, setting quite individual records along the way.
“We were very fortunate to bring in some strong runners to go with a good core group of kids that we already had at North Greenville,” said first year head coach Michael Bayne. “This season we were able to set several personal records and some school records as well. The fellowship of the team together is something I would not trade for anything.”
Many of the runners on both teams were able to set personal bests this season including John Shealy, sophomore undecided, who set a school record with an 8-Kilometer time of 27:07, and Brandon Southern, junior health and wellness, who recorded the school’s second fastest 8-kilometer time, finishing in 27:55.
Girl’s team member Kelly Knutson, freshman secondary education, was also able to set the schools best 5-kilometer time, finishing in 21:13.
Bayne says his team put in some serious work over the offseason, and it paid dividends over the course of the year.”
“Some of our runners were running 60-80 miles a week over the summer,” said Bayne. “As a coach, I always worry about messing up the chemistry from one team to another, but the chemistry was awesome this year
Not only did the Crusaders set some personal records, but the program reached some milestones as well. North Greenville hosted its first ever home meet in school history.
Bayne says he believes this was a big step for the University
“We were put in the most difficult cross country conference in the nation,” said Bayne. “There are some unbelievable teams in this conference and we were very excited about how well our kids did.”
Tags: Fall 2011, Vol. 113 - Issue 9