The Watonga Eagles cross country teams have been working hard for the last few weeks and finally got to show off Sept 3. for the town at their home meet.
Although the high school girls were not able to place as a team due to injuries, Reese Coleman led the team in individual placing with a time of 10:24 in the girl's 2.5Km run. She is now a sophomore, and has been the leader of the team since last year after coming up from middle school and quickly establishing the No. 1 position in the lineup.
Julien Roman Nose, a senior, also medalled coming in 20th place with a time of 11:04. Roman Nose was a member of the 2019 and 2020 State Champion Cross Country teams.
Jayden Daukei and Jaidon Turney placing 82nd and 88th, respectively wrapped up the Lady Eagles placings.
Brayden Cowan led the boys 4Km in placings coming in second in his first ever high school race with a time of 13:51. Boomer Mendenhall came in 26th. Mendenhall recently moved to Watonga from Texhoma and has made an impact on the depth of the boys team. Following Mendenhall were Korey Brewer, Rylan Miller and Cole Black to secure an 8th place team finish.
Coach Jim Bob Coleman was pleased with the performances on Saturday, saying, “It was very hot and humid and that makes racing harder, so I was pleased with how they competed and performed on Saturday morning.” There is still lots of room for improvement, but Coleman said his team is starting to come around and react to the weeks of training. This season hasn't been without challenges for his girl’s team so far, but they're working on being patient to see improvement at the end of the season where it matters most. “I don't have any depth with my girls. We have five runners, and right now one is injured. The boys, however, I do have some depth. I have had nine boys working out to try and make the seven-man team,” Coleman said.
Cross country will travel Sept. 10 to Cherokee. “I think all the kids out there will improve later this year. They are working hard to perform well right now but will see a good increase in performance when we get closer to the end of the season,” he said.