With a young squad featuring only one senior, as well as a freshman in the top 7, Coach Amber Eichkorn’s Maize South girls cross country team has a lot of things to look forward to in the future. That doesn’t mean they aren’t making the most of this season, however. According to Eichkorn, “It has gone very well for the girls this season. They are a lot closer both as a team this year and as well as in actual running time. We have a much shorter window between our 1st and 7th runner this year.”
That 1st runner is sophomore Isabella Ponce, who has been the team’s #1 runner in every meet but one this year, with a best time of 19:53, at the Olathe Twilight meet. Eichkorn also highlighted sophomore Emma Brooks and senior Kennedy Mitchell as athletes who have played a prominent role in this year’s team. The team has faced adversity, Eickhorn said, noting that “we had one of our top seven not come back this year so that hurt us a little bit but we have had other girls set up and race harder as well as have a freshman (Olivia Querubin) that has really helped round out the squad.”
Going forward, Coach Eichkorn said the team has simple goals. The goal for the remainder of the season is to keep getting better and stronger,” she said, “and hope to continue being in the running for league, regional, and state.”
