{"id":80385,"date":"2024-09-05T10:37:16","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=80385"},"modified":"2024-09-18T15:54:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T20:54:52","slug":"fhsu-cross-country-looks-to-establish-new-leaders-as-season-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=80385","title":{"rendered":"FHSU Cross Country looks to establish new leaders as season begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By MAYAN PAZ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Net<\/em>work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the track and field team is only starting their training for the upcoming season, FHSU\u2019s cross country team is already up and running and getting ready for their season opener on Saturday. There is a lot of excitement surrounding the team, as both the women’s and men’s teams have experienced some changes in the roster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the women\u2019s team was successful, finishing third in the MIAA and seventh in the regional championship. However, with Regan Hodsedon\u2019s graduation, the team has to find a new leader. The competition for that top spot is lively, and the athletes and coaches are not planning to fall behind this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a very good depth this year,\u201d Head Coach Jason McCullough said. \u201cJaycee Vath, Emily Diercks, and Darian Hudgenos are all extremely competitive athletes capable of performing at the highest level. We also have some younger athletes who improved from last season and had a good summer, so I\u2019m not worried about performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vath, who is a senior, spoke about the changes and being a leader on the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI\u2019m glad I get to be a leader this year, as I had so many girls to look up to my freshman and sophomore year, it is great to be that role model for others now,\u201d Vath said. \u201cWe have so many girls who are great leaders on the team, and we all push each other to be better. I\u2019m focusing on supporting my teammates as best as I can so everyone can achieve their potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When examining the athletes’ progress throughout the last track season, McCullough said there are many reasons to be optimistic about how this season unfolds, and he is confident in the team\u2019s depth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a potential of having six women get an all-conference award (top ten), with a strong top three as well, our goal is to finish in the top three as a team, if not higher,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vath echoes McCullough\u2019s thoughts about possible team success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know we are capable of finishing higher in conference and regionals this year,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men\u2019s team also lost their leading athlete, but much like the women, they are ready to step up and be better as a team. Jaret Pfizenmaier, one of the seniors who will lead the team this year, is very excited coming into the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPersonally, I had a great summer, and I feel terrific,\u201d Pfizenmaier said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to become a leader and feel no pressure at all, as I was already one of the leaders of the team in practice previously. We have a lot more depth this year, and I will be extremely surprised if we don\u2019t get a top-three finish in our conference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCullough said that improving on last year’s ranking of eight in the conference is something the team should be able to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have some experienced athletes such as Ethan Fisher, Cori DeBost, and Jaret Pfizenmaier, so with their leadership, we can be a good team in our conference,\u201d McCullough said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the younger athletes on the team, a name that both McCullough and Pfizenmaier mentioned is Brady Stegman. The sophomore is highlighted as someone ready to make the step up and be one of the strongest athletes on the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrady has put on good milage during the summer,\u201d McCullough said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe will definitely pop off,\u201d added Pfizenmaier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men\u2019s and the women\u2019s teams will be traveling together throughout the season, starting in the JK Classic at Wichita State on Saturday, followed by the team\u2019s home meet, the FHSU Tiger Open, which will take place in the Rolling Ridge Cross Country Course, on September 13th. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By MAYAN PAZ Tiger Media Network While the track and field team is only starting their training for the upcoming season, FHSU\u2019s cross country team… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":67357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[319,7349],"tags":[1906,15774,15776,3336,15775,15831],"class_list":["post-80385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cross-country","category-sports","tag-fhsu-cross-country","tag-fhsu-sports-staff","tag-jaret-pfizenmaier","tag-jason-mccullough","tag-jaycee-vath","tag-mayan-paz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/My-project-1-1.png?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80385"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81181,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80385\/revisions\/81181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}