Hoping to extend their success even further in the 2011, the Park Hill South girls cross country team welcomes back their entire varsity squad with the exception of one. A young team in 2010, the Panthers won the conference title and advanced two runners to sectionals, Hannah Carlson and Lizzy Jurries. Seventh year head coach Pam Jurgensmeyer has a group returning as a more mature and experienced team that is excited to see what results their work over the summer will yield.
“I believe we’ll perform better this year than last year just because the girls have put in a lot of work in the off-season. The girls who really want to get better, they were running all the time,” Jurgensmeyer said. “It was almost to the point where I needed to tell them to take a day or two off every once in awhile.”
Carlson and Jurries will be joined by returning varsity runners Lauren Blair, Anna Schaeffer, DeDe O’Toole, Kerry Maas, and Audrey Rothers. Other runners looked to compete for spots and pushing for the top of the pack will be juniors Hanna Walsh, Sam Carpenter, sophomores Danielle Black, Maddi Hannah, Olivia Ortiz, and freshman Madeline Homoly. With only brief exposure to some of the incoming freshman, South hopes some of those runners will also be competing for varsity and junior varsity positions.
Jurgensmeyer says they’ll be aided by strong leadership from a senior class of 15 and a high number of athletes coming out overall for the team. 49 athletes will create the competition the program needs in order to reach the next level of qualifying the team for sectionals and advancing individuals to state.
“We have a large group of girls that are interested in running and we have a lot of fun,” Jurgensmeyer said of the team’s general mood.
Their two most challenging tests will come at the Missouri Southern Stampede in Joplin and the KC Metro meet the week before the Conference race.
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