For five years, Wellsville-Middletown cross country coach John Slovensky has been trying to get Molly Scott to join the team.

This fall, Scott finally decided to come out and run for the Tigers.

“I’ve done track every single year through junior high and high school,” the W-M senior said. “When I showed up for practice, I never saw the coach's eyeballs so big. He was so surprised. I’m so glad that I did it.”

Scott turned in an outstanding cross country debut on Sept. 19 at the Wellsville-Middletown Invitational, placing 13th with a time of 28:22 to earn her first medal.

“That meant a lot because I haven’t gotten a medal in a long time, probably my freshman year in track,” Scott said. “It’s really cool to be in my first year in cross country and finally get a medal. I know that I accomplished this by myself, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

Scott was one of three seniors who earned medals at the W-M Invitational. The others were Natalie Boeckelman and Kaleb Peak. Peak placed fifth with a 19:39 in the boys race and Boeckelman came in 14th with a 28:43.

Boeckelman said she was happy that the whole senior class went home with medals.

“It feels pretty good, especially since Kaleb and I have been doing this since seventh grade,” Boeckelman said. “Now, we added Molly to the mix. It feels really nice that all three of us got medals at our home meet.”

After the meet, the three seniors were recognized along with their parents in the dark. Several people were operating flashlights from their phones.

“It was a little different,” Peak said. “It was hard to see.”

Three other W-M runners earned medals at the meet. Junior Bethany Slovensky placed third with a 24:48 and junior Jenelle Boeckelman finished 11th with a 27:07 in the girls meet. Sophomore Hunter Bickell was the Tigers’ top finisher in the boys meet, placing fourth with a 19:32.

The W-M boys earned a plaque after finishing second with 40 points. The Tigers placed third in the girls division with 46.

Scott competed with the W-M track team for three years. When she was a sophomore, she participated in the 3,200-meter relay at the Class 1 state meet.

Scott said she was told by Slovensky that cross country will prepare her for track season next spring.

“I kind of believe him now,” Scott said. “It has helped me not only mentally, but physically. I think it’s going to help me have a better start to my track season this coming year.”

Peak competed in his first race of the season. He said running in the flat W-M course is not easy.

“It’s tough because there are no hills, so you don’t have anything to get your momentum up,” said Peak, who finished ninth in last year’s race. “But you’re not pushing very many hills. You’re always running as fast as you can. It might seem easy, but it’s very difficult at the same time.”

Peak is one of three returning runners from last year’s boys team that placed third in the Class 1 state meet. He said he hopes his team returns to Columbia in November.

“That will be awesome,” Peak said. “That’s what the rest of our teammates and I are working for. We’re trying really hard to go back to state for my senior year. I’m only 30 seconds slower than I was at state. I’m starting off the season really strong and it’s only going to get better.”

Boeckelman picked up her second medal of the season. She finished 10th at the season-opening Van-Far Invitational on Sept. 6.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel good,” Boeckelman said. “But I didn’t drop out. I finished and I got a medal. It was pretty good.”

Boeckelman said with the additions of Molly Scott and sophomore Indica Scott, she’s optimistic that her girls team will turn in a strong season.

“I think we have high hopes,” Boeckelman said. “We may not be the best, but at least we have a team and that’s better than what it has been in years past. We hope for the best. We just hope to get better. Getting better would be the No. 1 goal.”