After his Lady Bulldogs won their second state championship in four years in 2022, GHS cross country head coach Jim Andrews, assistant Becky Ames, and a large group of eager runners are about to begin their 2023 campaign at Siloam Springs on Saturday. The numbers of runners are higher this year than ever before, according to Andrews, especially among the boys and in the junior high ranks. Even better, Greenwood’s top six Lady Bulldogs from last season all return to seek back-to-back championships. On the boys side, the varsity Bulldogs have just two seniors and a lot of young talent.
Greenwood’s varsity cross country season was supposed to start September 1st at Clarksville with the University of the Ozarks 2-mile relay, but that event was cancelled. The junior high season kicked off September 5th at Magazine and Greenwood’s runners performed very well, said Andrews. Both junior and senior high runners will get up early on Saturday to travel to Siloam Springs for an 8:30 meet, one that carries special significance since Siloam Springs will also host the conference meet in late October.
Long-distance running requires constant training, and Greenwood’s runners have been working hard for months, either on their own or as a team this past spring and summer, except for the mandatory dead period imposed by the Arkansas Activities Association. Their dedication is seen in their willingness to get up before sunrise during the summer to work out in the mornings to escape the late afternoon heat. Now that the heat has passed, they have returned to after school workouts.
There are 18 varsity girls and 31 varsity boys on the GHS roster. Among seventh and eighth graders there are 24 boys and 21 girls. That’s a total of 94 runners from grades 7-12 and there are only five seniors among that group, which speaks volumes about the program’s potential for the future. The coach did acknowledge that a few students had dropped out of the program since the roster was first compiled, but the volume is still higher than ever before, around 80 or so.
“This is the most we’ve ever had,” said Andrews of his roster count. “It’s quite a number this year. A lot more boys and a good number of seventh graders are out this year again, girls and guys. We’re hoping to keep a lot of those athletes. It’s an interesting number. I never thought we would have gotten to this point with so many kids out to run cross country.”
Asked if he had done anything different in the off-season to drive up the number of kids interested in the sport, the coach said, “No. I’ve not done anything,” explaining that he even missed the end-of-the-year talk each head coach gives to the incoming seventh graders, promoting their sport. Instead, he sent four seniors to represent the cross country program, including Noah Embrey, Kaitlynne Elmore, Madelyn Wilkinson, and Ashley Koeth. “They must have done a really good job,” said Andrews. Embrey and Elmore are furthering their running careers in college this fall.
Now in his 11th season as the GHS head coach, Andrews has built one of the top female cross country programs in Arkansas, finishing first, second, third, and first in the state in Class 5A over the last four seasons. With so many top runners returning again this fall, the Lady Bulldogs appear poised to make another strong run at a state title, something the GHS boys are still striving to achieve after placing fifth overall in 2022. It’s also worth noting that the recently graduated Noah Embrey was the #1 runner in the state meet in Class 5A last season. He’s now competing for Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.
But the Bulldogs have about 30 athletes this season, with a ton of juniors (11) and freshmen (15) to go along with two seniors and five returning sophomores listed on the pre-season roster. Among them are a lot of experienced runners who competed in the state meet last season held at Hot Springs’ Oaklawn Park. Included among them are 2023 returnees Weston Rushing, Rhett Williams, David Coggin, Andrew Rye, Ashton Neece, and Braylon Neece. Of those, all-state recipient and junior David Coggin is expected to be the leader and top performer this season for the Bulldogs, according to his coach.
“This is a great group of guys,” said Andrews of his varsity boys. “They have great chemistry and have the potential to do something great this year or next. I think our top [guy] will be David Coggin. He was our second-best [runner] last year. Andrew Rye is probably next with quite a few people right there behind him. These guys also run really well in a pack, unlike Noah [Embrey] who was an elite kind of runner. These guys all run a lot closer together and feed off each other. They work hard together, and that says a lot about them, and there’s some good vocal leaders in that group. They just need to have a couple good meets and build some confidence and keep moving forward.”
In high school cross country, the top five runners for each school count in the point standings, with runners six and seven considered as tiebreakers. According to Andrews, his top five to seven runners this year could be Coggin, Rye, Rhett Williams, Braylon Neece, and Westin Rushing, with Ashton Neece in the mix and freshman Ridik Lawless also making a case for himself.
For the Lady Bulldogs, junior Carole Werner, senior Paige Andrews, sophomore Julia Witherington, sophomore Piper Ames, and sophomore Camryn Coston all return after finishing second, fifth, sixth, seventh, and 13th in the state meet, respectively. “They ran like they were seasoned veterans,” said Andrews of last year’s performance on the big stage.
Of the team’s three returning seniors – Paige Andrews, Maddie Cash, and Amelia Morgan – Andrews is once again expected to be the top performer in the group. “They all grew up in the program,” said Paige’s dad and head coach. “They’ve all had good summers and they know they have a chance to make history by winning back-to-back state titles.
“Carole [Werner] is picked to be one of the best in the state this year, according to Mile Split,” said Coach Andrews. “She’s got one of the fastest times coming back in 5A, and she’s somebody people are going to be looking out for, and I think there’s still room for improvement. She just needs to stay focused on what she wants to do individually and wrap that around our team goal and keep working hard. I think she’ll have a great season.”
A pair of juniors – Elizabeth Moy and Haylee Young – also return and could threaten to break into the top tier of runners, according to their coach. Moy finished 35th in the state meet last season and Young has worked her way back from a series of injuries. “She had a great summer and I think she’s ready to step up and try to become a part of that top five or six,” said Andrews of Young.
Besides the three seniors, there are also three juniors on the roster, six sophomores, and four freshmen, and several of them show promise as runners, but need time and experience to improve their performances. But Coach Andrews was also very complimentary of their overall talent, not just in cross country, citing freshman Jenna Cossey as a prime example. Besides her potential as a runner, she also has a key part in the school’s upcoming production of “ELF.”
“She’s a phenomenal actress and yet she loves to run and does a great job and is working hard,” said her coach and would-be drama critic. “These kids are all multi-talented that we have on this team, in so many different ways.” As usual, many of the school’s cross country runners compete in other sports as well, especially soccer and wrestling.
As for the schedule this season, Andrews said, “This Saturday is going to be our first meet. We’re a little behind, which is scary, but we’ll be okay. [After that] our schedule is set for the rest of the season.” The GHS varsity will run at Siloam Springs on Saturday before competing in the annual Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville on the last day of the month.
Five days later, on October 5th, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will host their annual junior and senior high meet at Bell Park beginning at 4 p.m. The varsity teams will then travel to Hot Springs on October 14th for the Lake Hamilton Invitational held at Oaklawn Park. The conference meet will follow at Siloam Springs on the 26th before the state meet on November 2nd.
As for the 5A West, Andrews expects the Russellville girls to be good. “They’ve got one girl that’s really good and a solid group of four or five,” he said. But statewide, “They are going to be gunning for us. I know they are,” he said. “So we can’t be relaxed. We’ve got to make sure we come out and focus on what we want and work together.”