W-M runners hope to finish strong again

By Theo Tate

Posted 9/6/22

With eight returning runners, the Wellsville-Middletown cross country team is looking to extend a long streak this fall.

The Tigers are hoping to have some runners at the state meet for the 29th …

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W-M runners hope to finish strong again

The Wellsville-Middletown cross country team starts its season at 5 p.m. on Sept. 6 at the Van-Far Invitational. Pictured are, front row from left, Leo Oligschlaeger, Reed Bickell, Madison Bickell, Hunter Bickell, Royce Wilkinson, Shane Joles, Garrett Poage and Gage Nichols. Back are Mia Reese, Jonah Slovensky, Bethany Slovensky, Jenelle Boeckelman, AJ Sherwood, Kaleb Peak and Natalie Boeckelman. Not pictured are Gage Marshall, Molly Scott and Indica Scott.

Theo Tate photo

Posted Tuesday, September 6, 2022 8:46 am

By Theo Tate

With eight returning runners, the Wellsville-Middletown cross country team is looking to extend a long streak this fall.

The Tigers are hoping to have some runners at the state meet for the 29th consecutive year. Last year, their boys team not only qualified for state, but it also placed third for its first state trophy in program history. Also in 2021, the girls team had one state qualifier in Jenelle Boeckelman.

Seniors Kaleb Peak and Natalie Boeckelman, juniors Jenelle Boeckelman, Bethany Slovensky and AJ Sherwood and sophomores Hunter Bickell, Jonah Slovensky and Gage Marshall are the returning runners for the Tigers, who start their season at 5 p.m. on Sept. 6 at the Van-Far Invitational.

In last year’s Van-Far meet, W-M had eight medalists and five of them are back this year. Also, the W-M boys placed second in the team standings.

“We’ve got hopes of doing some things teamwise, and we have several individuals who are pretty good,” W-M coach John Slovensky said. “Individually, I think we should be able to earn quite a few medals this year.”

The W-M boys lost five runners from last year’s team to graduation – Layne Norris, Isaac Seabaugh, Keaton Mayes, Jason Hollensteiner and Lucas Peak. With his 18th-place finish at state, Norris was the first Tiger to earn all-state honors.

Bickell, Jonah Slovensky and Kaleb Peak are the only returning runners from the 2021 boys team that competed at the Class 1 state meet in Columbia. The three runners combined to finish with 10 medals.

Besides Bethany Slovensky and the Boeckelman sisters, senior Molly Scott and sophomore Indica Scott are also on the girls team and are competing in cross country for the first time. Jenelle Boeckelman ran at state for the second straight year, while Slovensky and Natalie Boeckelman each had one state meet appearance.

John Slovensky said he hopes to have a full team in all four divisions – high school boys, high school girls, junior high boys and junior high girls. The high school team has 10 runners and the junior high has eight, most of them are in sixth grade.

“That’s one of the things that we like to do because, in cross country, there are two simultaneous competitions, the individual competitions and team competitions,” Slovensky said. “We have found out that it’s a lot more fun to accomplish things as a group. We like to have a team in each of the four places.”