Young Roadrunners set to make the transition to collegiate cross country

Sedalia, Mo. – The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners' cross country team is busy preparing for the upcoming season. The Roadrunners have claimed three consecutive Region 16 Cross Country Championships. This year's roster includes 11 freshmen and two sophomores.

Co-Head Coach Kellin Loch likes what he has seen from the team so far in the preseason.

"We are still a little early, we have had one week of practice," said Loch. "So far, the practices have been relatively light. Almost everyone is new to campus and away from home. We were also in the weight room for the first time this week, which was new to more than a few of them. It is new environment, and we are all getting accustomed to each other and where everything is. We've had some easy runs and a long run that went well this week. It was encouraging that we are still able to get some distance even with some tired legs. We also had a time trial that went really well. We got to see the fitness level of our kids."

Loch expects the team's two returning sophomores, Adam Broekemeier of Edwardsville, Illinois, and Duncan Wilkinson of Vienna, Missouri, to lead by example. Freshman Carter Moss of Centralia, Missouri, has also stepped into a leadership role early.

"Carter leads our dynamic warmups," said Loch. "We also make sure that everyone is doing what they're supposed be doing."

SFCC will face a competitive schedule designed to prepare the team for the Region Championships. The Roadrunners open the season on Friday, Sept. 5, at the SBU Bearcat Invitational. They return to action on Friday, Sept. 12, at the Columbia College Larry Young Invitational. On Saturday, Oct. 4, the team will travel to the Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas. The following week, SFCC will compete in the Simpson Invitational hosted by the University of Central Missouri in Columbia. The Region 16 Championships are set for Friday, Oct. 24.

Coach Loch has several goals in mind for the season.

"Our first goal is to have an opportunity to continue our streak of Region Championships," Loch said. "That has always been a big goal for our program. We would also like to place well at Nationals. We also have some individual goals and benchmarks that we would like to achieve this year."

Loch also identified some key factors for team success.

"We have to stay healthy," said Loch. "A lot of these kids are hard workers, that is fantastic 90% of the time. We have to make sure that we're making it to the athletic trainer and communicating with me, I will ask them so many times how they're feeling, they will probably get annoyed with it. We also have to make sure that we do things to recover, get enough sleep, eat well, and make sure that their meals are well-rounded. I'm excited to see this group. I think they're getting along well, and we want to keep that energy and enthusiasm going throughout the year."

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics