Last fall was a rather tough season for both the Ashland girls and boys cross country team. Between the both of them the Clocker runners were only able to muster one win. Coach Lou Mancini, who oversees both teams, is looking to build the Ashland program, but is finding it tough to get athletes to come out for the teams.
“We’re trying to improve upon our program, but it’s a numbers thing – a lot of athletes gravitate toward other sports,” the Coach said. “This year numbers are up, especially with the boys. Last year we had 24 athletes, this year we have 42 (31 boys and 11 girls).”
Running for the boys, Mancini has some very promising athletes who should help with the building process. Sophomore Jack Matarese, who was the team’s third best runner as a freshman, should be improved this fall and will be looked upon to be the Clocker’s top runner this year.
Other runners Mancini believes will excel are junior Kevin Rabidou, who came out for the team for the first time last fall and has worked hard this past summer and seniors Kwesi Sakyi and Brandon Barker. Mancini is looking for good things from all three of these athletes.
The remainder of the boy’s team is relatively young and somewhat new to the program.
“We’re definitely not going to be the best in the league, by far, but we are getting there,” the coach said. “This team will be competitive, especially with the smaller schools.”
On the other side, Mancini is looking at only 11 total girls, four of them are returning from last year’s squad. Allie Chrisafideis was the third best female runner last year and the coach is looking at her to be the best this season. Chrisafideis, according to the coach, is one of the hardest workers on the team and should be very competitive. Mancini believes that she should continually cross the finish line in the top three or four runners each and every meet.
In addition to Chrisafideis, Ashland has three senior runners back for their final cross country season. Those seniors include Paulina Chumakou, Kaleigh Donovan, who participated in the fall sport for the first time last year and found herself running strong near the end of the season, and Claire Cushman.
The four returning runners will be very competitive, but the other seven girls are very young, inexperienced, and working toward the future. If any of the younger athletes can catch on quickly and step up their game ,who knows how high the Clockers may move up in the league.
As always, Mancini’s goal is to continue to improve as the season goes on.
“The Tri Valley League is very tough; there is no middle ground–you’re either on one end of the spectrum or the other,” the Clocker Coach said. “We’ll be getting more competitive especially as our numbers increase. We also have younger kids running prior to high school to give us somewhat of a feeder program.”
As more and more athletes begin to come out for the cross country team, the numbers Mancini is looking for will rise, and with the rise in numbers Ashland should be able to field a competitive squad that can take on the other members of the Tri Valley League.