It's state or bust for Lindbergh
The Flyers return 10 state qualifiers, five each from the boys and girls teams. The guys bring back seniors Jon Syrett, Brian Petersen and Brett Forthaus, and juniors Mike Syrett and Nolan Bevirt from a team that finished 14th at the state meet a season ago.
The girls fared better last year in Jefferson City, placing eighth as a team. Coach Petersen said he expects a top five finish from the ladies this year, and is aiming for a top 10 finish from the boys."We want to improve on both of those," Petersen said. "We think we've got the talent to do it."
The girls have some new talent to add to the mix, with a pair of freshmen and two juniors out for cross country for the first time. Petersen said he had been trying to get Miranda Fisher and Jane McKibbon out for a couple years, and the pair finally agreed.
Grace Watt and Colleen Riley are the two freshmen, and Riley has already emerged as one of the team's top runners. Though just a freshman, Riley has years of experience running, Petersen said. Riley was the No. 2 finisher at Lindbergh's first two meets this season.
The four newcomers join the quintet of state qualifiers on a team that placed third in Columbia last weekend and second at McNair Park the week prior.
Junior Laura Hmiel is the top returner and is off to a good start this year, placing third at the Mizzou meet. Petersen said Hmiel and Riley will most likely be the top two runners all year.
Also returning are Gretchen and Claire Mueller, who qualified for state last year as a freshman, and Ally Thompson, the lone senior on the team. Thompson is looking for a fourth trip to state to cap her high school career. Petersen said she's off to a slow start this year, but they're trying to get her back to form.
The Flyers implemented a cross-training system with an emphasis on weight training, conditioning and technique to increase speed and productivity while decreasing the risk of injury.
Petersen and assistants Jim Wilder and Tom Gose are a three-headed coach this year, which allows them to use their individual strengths to help the team become better conditioned.
"It gives us a lot of input with our experience," Petersen said. "We all have little things we're best at, and we're trying to make athletes better runners this year."
Wilder said the trio makes a great team.
"It's been really fun," Wilder said. "The only downfall is that we'll go out to eat after a meet and talk things over, and we end up being there for six hours."
Wilder runs the middle school program, so he's very familiar with many of the younger runners. He coached Riley and Watt the last three years, and is expecting big things from both of them. He also coached all but one of the male runners at the middle school level.
Petersen said injuries on the boys team have caused a slow start, but the Flyers still managed an eighth place finish in the first meet and a fifth place finish in Columbia.
"They've done pretty well against some stiff competition," said Petersen, who added that the girls team has more depth with 11 runners to eight on the boys side.
As long as the Flyers can avoid serious injuries this year, Petersen said their depth could result in the team bringing home some hardware from Jefferson City."We're going to try and battle for a state trophy," Petersen said. "We want to get there and see what happens from there."
