Jenna Stanbrough, Tyler Tilton will be key as Spartans look to recapture glory
For Mark Stanbrough, commitment is what counts. To try to push his Emporia High cross country teams back toward the lofty level they were at earlier this decade, Stanbrough is stressing the importance of the right approach.
“What I call doing things the right way, in terms of your attitude and commitment,” he said. “We had a few athletes that made a really nice commitment this summer, but as a whole, I don’t think we had the entire team make a commitment. So we’re still working on those things, in terms of things that occur outside of practice. Practice is only two hours a day. How you recover, how you eat, how you sleep, your attitude — those type of things, what I call doing the right things, which our teams have done in the past.”
That past featured astounding success — the EHS boys finished in the top two at State every year from 2003 to 2007 and won the State crown in ’07, while Michaela Reynolds captured an individual State title on the girls side the same year. Last year was a start-over season, with significant senior losses on both teams, but both squads made it back to State, and each one finished seventh.
“We probably have a few more expectations this year,” Stanbrough said. “The group’s a year older.”
Stanbrough’s daughter, Jenna, is one of the runners who made the kind of summer commitment that the coach looks for. Jenna was the only Spartan to earn a medal at State last year, finishing 11th. Now a senior coming off an extensive summer running program, she believes she’ll be capable of a top-five finish at this year’s State meet.
“I ran 50 to 55 miles a week,” she said last Wednesday. “So I feel like that has prepared me for pretty much like the base training, and now I can start getting some high-intensity workouts in, I think.”
Besides Jenna Stanbrough, a pair of sophomores who turned in promising rookie seasons last year also give the girls squad some hope for a fine season. Abbey Davies was the Spartans’ highest finisher at the League meet last season at Jones Park, placing 13th, then finished 50th at State; Abigail Chiroy finished 38th at State. Senior Joslyn Barton, who finished 62nd at State, and sophomore Aysia Paige also return. Junior Cindy Meinholdt will be one key newcomer.
“We have a young team, so our main goal is probably to keep the time gap between the first and the fifth runner to a minimum,” Jenna Stanbrough said. “That’s gonna be our main focus, and other than that, just pull everybody together and pull each other along.”
Junior Tyler Tilton figures to lead the boys team. Tilton finished 29th at State last year, second among the Spartans to the departed Tavo Dikin. After working over the summer, Tilton hopes to stay in the lead pack and improve on last season’s times.
“And last year, I’d take breaks,” Tilton said. “What I’d do is, the first mile, I’d run real hard, and then I’d back off the second mile. And this season, I want to go hard the whole time.”
Two other juniors, Jack Heim and Matt Wayman, are back after finishing 31st and 34th at State respectively, along with senior Matt Fry (73rd at State) and sophomore Drew Detwiler (78th). Sophomores Brandon Charbonneau and Austin Heavener will be among those who are new to the squad.
There are talented runners on both sides, and Mark Stanbrough hopes each squad can get better with each passing day. One major concern he has is depth.
“We’re not very deep on both the boys or the girls side,” he said. “We’ve got about, I’d say five girls right now that contribute real well, maybe six with Aysia Page. The guys side, we’re about five right now that are really competitive.
“So that might hurt us a little bit this year if we have some injuries. We can’t go down to six and seven people right now, so some of those younger kids have gotta step up and take those sixth- and seventh-spot roles.”
The Spartans’ season begins at Manhattan on Sept. 5. The following weekend, they’ll host the Emporia Invite at Jones Park.