SHS cross country team makes strides

The 2022 SHS cross country team is a young team who is improving with each meet. The girls team is led by senior Lexi Pfeiffer and junior Lexi Hester, who have mentored the six freshmen who make up the rest of the team, including Cheyenne Butcher, Elsa Clark, Brooke Rucker, Kristin Wagoner, Mallory Lucykow, and Olivia Matesa. Junior Thomas Ogata has stepped into the leadership role with the most experience for the boys team. Sophomore Nicholas Monahan and freshman Trevor Myers make up the full-time runners for the boys. Sophomore Rhyse Rucker and senior Troy Albertina play multiple sports but have been an asset to the team when they are able to join them. Both teams are coached by second year coach, Austin Ellis.

The SHS cross country teams participated in three meets this past week. In each meet, this young team is making progress and learning more about how to manage their own race. Several runners saw Personal Records (PR). Nicholas Monahan and Mallory Lucykow were the first runners for SHS at the Litchfield meet. The Triad Invitational was a new experience for our runners, with a course that had lots of hills, off-road trails, and a greater number of runners in each race. Rhyse Rucker led the Staunton boys, placing 49 of 194. Pfeiffer led the SHS girls, placing 85 of 163. The Southwestern Invitation on Saturday was run in nine heats. Monahan and Pfeiffer ran the top times for Staunton. Monahan ran a PR, with a time of 17:57, placing 4th in his heat and his time being 6th overall. Rhyse Rucker earned a 3rd place metal in Heat 2, with a time of 18:28. Brooke Rucker saw a huge PR (about a 3-minute improvement) in her race, with a time of 28:54. Their next meet is in Carlinville.