Coach’s Commentary: Randolph Cross Country
By Ginny Richburg

Randolph Union High School and Jr. High School started a cross country club this year. The front row are the junior high runners; from left, Annie Hutchinson, Katie Giles, Kayla Thompson, Brittany Butler and Casey Boule. The high school runners are in the back row from left, Stephen Bent, Coach Courtney Giknis and Dillon Gast. Missing is Coach Ginny Richburg. Sports cutline RUHS cross country be

With a season’s mileage and race experiences now under their belts, Randolph’s junior and senior high cross country runners have much to be proud of and much to look forward to next fall. Open to all 7-12^th graders in this first season, the club turned into a junior high girls’ team of five runners and two individual boys at the high school level.

Coaches Courtney Giknis and Ginny Richburg enjoyed working with all seven runners as they gained strength, speed and endurance over a seven week season. At each of the six races, the runners showed steady im-provement.

The two high school boys, Dillon Gast and Stephen Bent, first had to build endurance for their races, which were 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles. Gast recorded the best time, a 24:06 at Peoples Academy. Using the roads and trails from the high school to the Green Mountain Stock Farm gave them genuine, race-like conditions on pine needle or moss covered trails and through open meadows, with plenty of up and downhill stretches. Both boys look forward to improving their times as they run with even more club members next fall.

Jr. High Team

The five girls turned into a very successful team. Five runners are required to place as a team, and this bunch became known as a fearsome force on the race course, anything from 1.5 to 2.0 miles over the same type of terrain.

At every race, Annie Hutchinson and Katie Giles led Randolph’s charging pack, with Brittany Butler right behind them. Annie placed as high as 4^th at some races, with a best time of 12:21 for 1.6 miles. Rarely did another school’s runner squeeze in amongst her, Katie and Brittany.

Randolph’s fourth and fifth runners, Casey Boule and Kayla Thomson, often finished together and pulled up closer to their teammates at each race. At every race, their progress was exciting to watch on visible parts of the course. They started at a moderate pace and every time they went into the woods, they came out closer to the front and finished strong. Up against larger and more experienced teams, they earned respect as the second best group in the state, going against as many as 20 schools in one race.

The team’s challenge next fall will be to recruit more club members so that they can continue to have five for their teams. Brittany, Casey and Kayla move up to the high school level and to the nearly-twice-as-long distance. Judging by their response to practices and training this fall, the fleet-footed females will fly again.

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