Emporia State’s Jonel Rossbach runs while practicing with the Emporia State cross country team Wednesday afternoon at Peter Pan Park.
The new season has brought an interesting scenario for Jonel Rossbach, who won last year’s conference championship on her way to a 17th-place finish at Nationals that earned her All-American status.
The senior is the only returner on this year’s women’s cross country team.
“It was a little odd,” Rossbach said, “but at least I have people to run with.”
Last year, runners were hard to come by. Emporia State coach Dave Harris had to do some last-minute on-campus recruiting to ensure that ESU could fill out a complete women’s team.
That’s changed this year, as transfer Kyli Bean along with seven freshmen give the ESU women a full roster — and also lots of inexperience.
“It’s great to lead people and help them become better,” Rossbach said. “Even though I only have a year with them, I’ll give them the foundation they need to hopefully someday become great ...
“They’re excited to learn, and I’m excited to teach.”
As for individual goals, Rossbach has set her sights higher than ever.
The senior would like to defend her conference title, win the Regional championship (she finished third last year) and take top-five honors at the National Championships.
It all seems reachable, especially with the work she put in over the summer.
Rossbach averaged 50 miles per week during the vacation, with the thought always in her mind that the training would help her reach the lofty targets she’s set.
New faces on men's team
The Hornets also are full of youth on the men’s side, as eight freshmen join the team to boost the roster to 18 runners.
“It’s just great to have the depth on the team that we have now,” ESU senior Eric Wellman said. “It’s something we’ve lacked in the past.
“We’ve got the leadership. We’ve got the depth. I think we just need to put it all together and see what we can do this year.”
Though ESU is picked to finish last in the conference, Harris said he believed this year’s team would be much better than last year’s squad.
Emporia State's Daniel Quillen, left, and Evan Cox run at Peter Pan Park while practicing with the Emporia State cross country team.
Emporia High graduate Skyler Delmott returns as the team’s top runner, with Wellman coming in as the wild card for ESU.
The senior did not compete at all last season with a foot injury and is just coming back after having two screws put in that same foot at the end of May.
He started running again three weeks ago, and progress hasn’t been as fast as he’d hoped.
“I’m trying to come back slow enough that I can still run, but fast enough that I can get back into shape and still be good this year,” Wellman said.
Harris will have Wellman compete in the first meets even though the runner won’t be at full strength.
“I think there’s a future in this cross country season for Eric Wellman, but I think that future’s a good month from now,” Harris said. “We’re going to see his name in results, but we’re not going to see the real Eric until October.”
Juniors Brock Ternes and Marcus Summers have returned in great shape and will be expected to compete for the top five spots.
Also impressing Harris have been freshmen Sloane Kern and Adam McGovern.
Kern, from Great Bend, was the 5A State Champion in cross country last season. Delmott was the 5A State Champion in 2006.
McGovern, meanwhile, comes to ESU from Lee’s Summit West High School.
“He had a good summer,” Harris said, “and it’s paying off now.”
Harris said he was looking forward to seeing the development of his men’s squad.
ESU opens its season Saturday at the Bob Timmons Invitational in Lawrence.
“Now we have some depth and we have some talent,” Harris said, “and the two are going to help this men’s team go from picked last in the MIAA to hopefully climbing the ladder.”
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