After a long season, the girls’ and boys’ cross country team finished their seasons with exceptional milestones, having noteworthy performances from star players.
In the 2025 cross country season, the men’s team now made the state meet for the 10th time in school history, and the women’s team added to their 11th time making sectionals this year. These impressive statistics can only get better as the school’s rosters find more potential through the incoming classes and increasing skillsets of the runners.
“I really am proud of the entire team. All forty-one guys have shown improvement, but it’s led by our seniors- Tyler Miller, Brady Procop, and Austin Cory- and a few of the younger guys [like] Dylan Buterusis and Alex Batsala,” head coach Jason Crowe said.
Crowe said that the team changes every year with different work ethic, personalities, and improvement that changes the environment every season.
Freshman men’s runner, Austin Rickels, had a great first season running at the high school level despite the challenges that he went through and the roadblocks he had to overcome. He looked to his teammates and coaches for guidance during this transition into a higher level of the sport that he loves.
“Three miles versus two miles [is] hard to get used to. It’s been an experience learning how to run those distances, but it’s been fun [especially] with an amazing coach like Coach Crowe,” Rickels said.
Senior and top seven runner on the men’s team, Austin Cory, remembers impactful words from coach Crowe that he plans to take with him for a long time.
“Taking accountability for your actions. [It’s about] putting in the hard work because you can’t cut corners in this sport, and I think that’s something I will take with me for the rest of my life,” said Cory.
Many of the athletes on the team appreciate Crowe for his great coaching abilities. Coaching at this level for more than 10 years has taught Crowe more about young men as opposed to just seeing them as young athletes.
“I love working with the kids in cross country and track and field. I really enjoy helping young men out [with] becoming better people, not just better athletes,” Crowe said.
There are more coaches in the running program as well. Not only does Crowe have a big impact, but the women’s cross country head coach, Jim O’Connell, has impacted players on a new level, where he is seen as more of a mentor than just a coach.
“Something I’ve learned from my coach [is] if you always push yourself really hard, you will see progress and get to where you want to go,” said senior women’s cross country runner Adaline Oster.
Past the successes seen by upperclassmen, there are also young runners who have great potential, as seen by many. The classes of 2028 and 2029 include young runners who have had notable seasons, but coaches and seniors have their eyes on younger talent that they see taking their elite places on the team.
Oster said sophomore Abby Kovacs has great leadership skills and is really fast. Oster said she could see Kovacs becoming captain in her senior year, similar to herself. In addition, Cory says Logan Capalbo reminds him of himself from freshman year and is excited to see where he goes with his running career.
With some talented runners leaving and more high-potential runners entering, there is only one direction that the sport of cross country can go at the high school: that direction is up.
