Northmor girls’ cross country coach Mark Yaussy is very optimistic this year. With eight returning runners with varsity experience, as well as a lot of promising newcomers, the long-time coach thinks his squad has the potential to be as good as any he’s coached.
“We should be very competitive this year,” he said. “We have a nice mix of veterans and new runners who have worked very hard this summer. We hope to be in the top three at every invitational. This is shaping up to be one of the best teams Northmor has ever fielded.”
Returning are Brooke Bennett, Selena Cortez, Vivienne Cutrupi, Kristen Duryea, Samantha Grogg, Rachel Morrison, Samantha Peters and Allyssa Pearce. They will be joined by junior Maria Lee and freshmen Julianna Ditullio, Maddie Jordan, Jessica Duryea, Sabrina Kelley and Frankie Cutrupi — who Yaussy hopes will outweigh the losses of Isabelle Ditullio and Reanne McDonald to graduation.
In the conference, Yaussy looks at Fredericktown and Mount Gilead to provide the toughest competition.
The boys’ team, under new head coach Kevin Ruhl, also is optimistic for a strong season. While Spencer Adams graduated from last year’s team, he has five lettermen coming back, as well as a number of varsity newcomers.
Seniors James Walker and A.J. White return, as do junior Kaleb Hart and sophomores Mostyn Evans and Alec Moore. Ruhl also has high expectations for senior Calvin Komer, junior Manny Heilman and sophomores B.J. White and Kyle Price.
“We hope to be very competitive this season,” he said. “We have several guys who have experience running at the varsity level in both cross country and track. The guys are competitive and they will work hard to improve their times throughout the season.”
In the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, Ruhl looks at Mount Gilead and Fredericktown to be at the top of the Blue Division standings, but feels that his team can be up there with them by the end of the season.
