The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs are the defending Class 5A state cross country champions, have won back-to-back state crowns, three such titles since 2019, and are expected to make yet another run for the gold this fall. GHS Head Coach Jim Andrews remains bullish on his ladies and is encouraged by the hard work and improvement in his male runners as well. His program has grown tremendously in the past few years, with dozens of kids coming out to run with hopes of becoming part of a championship caliber team.
Greenwood’s cross country season began prematurely when their first meet was moved up to September 3rd at Rogers, the day after Labor Day. Greenwood participated in that meet prior to taking a long hiatus before this weekend’s second event, Russellville’s Cyclones Invitational. The two GHS squads have four additional events on their limited schedule in September and October before the conference and state meets on October 29th and November 7th, respectively.
Among the most consequential of those meets will be the annual Chile Pepper Festival run in Fayetteville on September 28th. The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will host their lone home meet at Bell Park on October 3rd. They will also compete at Alma (Sept. 24th) and Lake Hamilton (Oct. 12th) before moving into the postseason. The conference meet will also be held at Alma with the state championship decided at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
There are 40 varsity runners competing for Greenwood this season. The 2024 Lady Bulldogs includes 19 names – seniors Pate Jones, Annalise Johnson, Elizabeth Moy, Carole Werner, and Haylee Young; juniors Piper Ames, Camryn Coston, Sarah Embrey, Lexi Gordon, Olivia Weidner, and Julia Witherington; sophomores Gracie Goines, Kiera Johnson, and Jacey Halitzka; plus freshmen Presley Bowman, Camilla Collins, Lyla Loera, Ellie Wilkinson, and Zimmerman Presley. They are also 21 seventh and eighth grade girls.
The GHS boys cross country roster includes 21 runners. They are seniors Pablo Ambriz, David Ambriz, Kobe Lewis, Braylon Neece, Westin Rushing, Carson Thornsberry, and Rhett Williams; juniors Hayes Ciesla, Dylan Nicholson, Andrew Rye, and Isaac Trice; sophomores Ridik Lawless, Yadiel Garcia, James Rust, and Mickey Joe Thurman; along with freshmen Jonah Brown, Dexter Coston, Grant Fiala, Gabriel Himes, Landon McCorkle, and Miles Wead. There are 23 seventh and eighth grade boys.
Altogether there are over 80 student-athletes in the GHS cross country program, so Coach Andrews is justified in his belief that long distance running is alive and well in Greenwood and especially on the GHS campus. Not all students have been raised from a young age to play team sports like baseball, volleyball, softball, basketball, or football. Some lack the physical necessities to play those sports, especially those activities that demand height, or size and strength, or jumping ability.
Not all students have been blessed with the same physical gifts nor had the opportunity to develop their athletic talents like some of their classmates. But almost every student can run, and those who choose to condition their bodies, discipline their minds, and learn the proper techniques for long distance running can succeed in several ways. The mental focus and sheer determination required to be a distance runner is no less intense than in the other sports and can certainly benefit students as they transition to adulthood and enter the job market or begin their professional careers.
So, what does Coach Andrews have to say about this year’s two cross country squads. He shared his thoughts and hopes in a phone interview on September 6th with the Dog Pound. Asked about his team’s first meet of the season, he said, “Actually, the schedule changed. We had some conflicts, and we ran our first meet last Tuesday (Sept. 3rd) at Rogers.” The coach was pleased to report that his boys ran first in the meet while the Lady Bulldogs came in second.
Discussing the roster, Andrews said, “I thought our numbers were going to be down based on our practices this summer. But then I started counting them and was [surprised]. I think we have between 80 and 84 kids. Last year I had a big group of boys, but this year it’s a little more balanced.” The girls program has 40 runners in grades 7-12 while the boys have 44.
“I don’t really recruit,” said the coach. “I’ll go over to the middle school at the end of the school year and tell them what cross country is all about. We’ll do a signup and have an early spring tryout to give them an idea of what cross country is, and they come out in the summer. We do a little camp for them in June, and most of them stick it out. We have a good group of young kids in seventh grade. They are eager to learn, but it’s going to take time and patience to develop them. The eighth graders I have show a lot of promise and potential. There’s a lot of great runners in that group. We went to our first meet, and I thought they ran really well. We also have a deep group of eighth grade boys, if I can keep them running and improving.”
Starting with the GHS girls, the two-time defending state champions, the coach talked about his top returning runners and a couple of key additions. “We have a good core group of senior leaders starting with Carol Werner,” he said. “She’s top notch, and she’s committed to go to Arkansas Tech next year. We’re really proud of that. She’s had a great career here and she’s going to be awesome [in college]. She’ll be joining a former teammate there, Kaitlyn Elmore.” Other returning seniors include Annalise Johnson, Elizabeth Moy, and Haylee Young. At Rogers, Werner finished eighth overall, followed by Johnson in 13th place, Young 22nd, and Moy 35th out of hundreds of female runners.
“We’re got some great juniors too,” the coach continued. “Piper Ames is coming back really well this year. We’ve also got Camryn Coston and Julia Witherington. Those three have helped us and have always been in that top five group of runners.” Witherington led the Lady Bulldogs at Rogers, placing fifth overall, followed by Coston in ninth place and Piper eleventh.
“And our sophomores are going to play a key role in our success. Kiera Johnson went to state last year and knows what the competition is like.” Johnson ran 12th at Rogers and fellow sophomore Gracie Goines ran 16th. The GHS girls had 10 of the top 25 runners, a clear indication of their depth and experience. The Lady Bulldogs return four of their top five runners from last year’s state meet. But the coach also talked about a pair of key additions, senior Pate Jones and sophomore Jacey Halitzka.
“One of the new ones we’ve added is Pate Jones from basketball,” he said. “She’s such a talented athlete, and as a senior I think she just wants to have a fun year. She ran cross country as a seventh or eighth grader, I believe, and the new basketball coach was very supportive. She works hard, and she’ll continue to get better.”
But Jones is not the only basketball player also running cross country. Her new teammate, Jacey, the daughter of Head Coach James Halitzka, is also a runner. “When she was at Bergman she ran in eighth and ninth grade, and last year she was the only girl to run cross country. She did it on her own, and she really is a good runner. She works hard and she’s super competitive. Adding people like her and Pate to an already really good team just adds more depth and competitiveness,” said Andrews. Halitzka ran 17th at Rogers.
The GHS boys were next on the agenda, and their coach is pleased with their progress and early results. The Bulldogs won the meet at Rogers with three top ten finishers, led by David Coggin in second place, Andrew Rye sixth place, and Rhett Williams in eighth place. They had four other runners finish in the top 25.
“We’re going to be better this year than last year,” said Andrews. “We’re going to be champions in all that we do. We had a really good run camp, boys and girls, and I think the guys have really bought in to what we’re trying to do. Our top guys want to see things change. They what things to be different this year, and they’re working hard to make that happen.
“Our guys finished first in our opening meet, and they haven’t won a first meet in a really long time. And they ran well together. These guys are trying to be a good team. In cross country, like golf, the lowest score wins, and the way we run a low score is to have everybody run close together. It’s pretty exciting to see them work like that, so I think the guys have a really good chance this year. We’re definitely going to be improved. We want to be top five [in state].
“David Coggins is back, and he was second in our first meet, only about eight seconds off his career mark. He’s going to run much faster and have a much improved season. Beyond David we have junior Andrew Rye, and he had a great first meet. Then we have senior Rhett Williams, who has been very consistent, along with sophomore Ridik Lawless, who has really come on strong.” Lawless ran 14th at Rogers.
“Those are our top four, but numbers five, six, and seven can be anyone,” continued Andrews. “We had some other guys stand out this summer. Isaac Trice had a good run [at Rogers] and Westin Rushing.” Trice ran 17th and Rushing 22nd. “There’s a lot of senior leadership in that top group. Dylan Nicholson (23rd) had a great race. He improved by three minutes from his best race last year. The kids that have been consistent over the summer have already seen some big improvements over last year. Dexter Coston, Grant Fiala, and Miles Wead had a great summer and great camps, and they want to try to compete at state. And since we only take nine, it’s going to be a battle.”
Wrapping up the interview, Coach Andrews talked about his Lady Bulldogs, their back-to-back championships, and the winning tradition he and his runners are creating at Greenwood High School. “Those girls keep seeing it happen and they get a little taste of that and they want to keep it going. We won last year, but it was an ugly win. We weren’t satisfied. The girls didn’t think they ran their best and they want to do better. We want to have fun and enjoy it, so there have been some changes, and we’ve talked about that. Barring injuries, I see them getting better. There’s a lot of teams that hate seeing us at the top, teams like Russellville and Lake Hamilton, and they both have great teams with a lot of girls coming back. But I think we’re already in a better spot this year than last year.
“It takes a lot of work and energy to run five or six miles a day,” said the coach. “That’s tough, but these kids have dedicated themselves to do that to get better. Instead of focusing on minutes, this year we’ve been running more miles, and that has improved their physical abilities. We’re going to have an exciting season and enjoy what we’ve got going on.”