The Hi-SpotWaverly High School 13401 Amberly Rd. Waverly, Neb. 68462 Volume 82 Issue 2 10/2/13

1Page Layout By: Connor Strange

Waverly Cross Country Kicks It Up A NotchConnor Strange

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The Waverly cross country team has performed very well in the start of their season, placing first for the boys team and third for the girls team at their first meet at Beatrice. Senior Tobyn Wat-tenbarger and freshman Emma Scheel both took first place to start out the season.

“We got off to a great start,” Coach Ken Adkis-son said. “We medaled four boys and two girls. It was a very good first meet.”

At the second meet at Pioneer’s Park, the team finished up satisfied and successful. Once again, Scheel, Wattenbarger and senior Kaden Schopp placed in the top thirty of their respective races.

However, with the good news of the successful first two meets, the group of runners suffered a loss at the beginning of the sea-son. A strong runner of the team, Isaiah Brown, quit the sport shortly before the first meet.

“He decided what he wanted to,” sophomore runner Jaron Bricker said. “He’s my friend, and I sup-port his decision.”

A changeup to the cross country formula was put in place at the beginning of this season: girls are now running five kilometer

races instead of their previous trek of four.“It’s definitely a challenge, but it didn’t affect me as much as I

thought it would,” Scheel said.Despite the recent changes, both in the distance of girls’

running and the size of the team, Coach Adkis-son still feels optimistic about the future of the team.

“I thought, ‘We’re go-ing to have an above average boys team.’ So far it’s looked that way,” Adkisson said. “We could be pretty good if we get better and better. I’m encouraged for the future of the girls team.”

Veteran runners hold fond memories of pre-vious seasons in their heart even as they look at the bright future of their team as a whole.

“My teammates are great friends. I’ve had many friendships bloom from cross country,” Scheel said.

As the year progress-es, WHS hopes they can

see a continuation of the strong team spirit and excellent performances that have been showcased so far.

Senior Tobyn Wattenbarger nears the finish line during a meet at Pioneer’s Park. “Training over the summer really helped me compete better this year,” Watten-barger said.

Samm Sack