This 2015 cross country season looks to be a very positive one for the Alice Lloyd Eagles. First year coach, Brandon Arnold, has some high expectations for his young team. Arnold says, “This season the cross country program is going through the building process. The team has no returning runners, but we have picked up some hard-working upperclassman along with a talented recruiting class. Although our runners are inexperienced on the college level and still have a lot of room to grow, they show great potential. I’m excited to see the program going in the right direction.”
Coach Arnold’s season goals are to take runners to the nationals, and possibly even see his team qualify. His long term program goal is to be competitive at the national level. Alan Sylvia joins Arnold this season as student-assistant coach. He says that he wants to bring a “McFarland” like atmosphere to the team. He also hopes to take a team to nationals.
Women’s Cross Country Team
On the women’s side, senior female runner, Shiloh Jekyll, says that her season goal is to run in the 21’s for 5k, but by the end of her running career at Alice Lloyd she wants to run in the 19’s. Freshman runner, Britney Buttrey, seeks to run 20 minutes for 5k this year and by the end of her career at Alice Lloyd she wants to run low 19’s for 5k. This season both girls have the goal to run at the national championship. Alex Meade and Haley Short are two sophomores who are eager to demonstrate their abilities this season as well.
Men’s Cross Country Team
For the men, freshman Jacob Medley has a big goal for this season. He has his mind set to finish in the top 5 at the national championship. Medley says, “If I set an ambitious enough goal, and miss it I’ll still finish good at nationals. Our program is young, and we have a long way to go, but with the right runners, coaching staff, and mindset we’ll be competitive at the national level in the near future.”
Sophomore John Driskill has shown a lot of promise, in addition to first year runners Zach Templeton, Caleb Mills, Andrew Stidham, and Jordan Short. These men are working hard every day and look to make great strides by seasons end.
The 2015 cross country season is definitely the start of something exciting here at Alice Lloyd. The team is on pace to build a very successful program. Although the Alice Lloyd cross country team may be young and inexperienced, they do have one key ingredient… heart. Driskill summed up the team’s motives best when he said,” I just want to keep getting faster.”