Tri State
Jefferson coach confident in both boys and girls teams
By Kevin Spradlin
Tristaterunnur.com
KINGWOOD, W.Va. – Jefferson Coach Scott Biola has said all along his girls team rarely gets the credit the top seven runners deserve.
But on the way home from Saturday’s Mountaintop Combo at Preston High School, the lady Cougars of Shenandoah Junction are likely leading the celebration on the bus ride home.
Junior Alyssa Boucher ran a “breakthrough” race, Biola said, and fellow junior Andrea Nickerson was less than five seconds back to lead Jefferson to a fourth-place finish in the stellar 20-team field. That, combined with the boys’ first-place finish, helped the Cougars to the combined team title with 238 points. Host Preston was a distance second with 289 points and Morgantown was third with 298 points.
Not first – but better than ever. And that’s not a bad goal for either team Biola coaches as the cross country postseason is barely a month away.
By Kevin Spradlin
Tristaterunnur.com
KINGWOOD, W.Va. – Jefferson Coach Scott Biola has said all along his girls team rarely gets the credit the top seven runners deserve.
But on the way home from Saturday’s Mountaintop Combo at Preston High School, the lady Cougars of Shenandoah Junction are likely leading the celebration on the bus ride home.
Junior Alyssa Boucher ran a “breakthrough” race, Biola said, and fellow junior Andrea Nickerson was less than five seconds back to lead Jefferson to a fourth-place finish in the stellar 20-team field. That, combined with the boys’ first-place finish, helped the Cougars to the combined team title with 238 points. Host Preston was a distance second with 289 points and Morgantown was third with 298 points.
Not first – but better than ever. And that’s not a bad goal for either team Biola coaches as the cross country postseason is barely a month away.
|
“We work the girls and girls a little bit differently, but we all do train together,” Biola said. “It’s nice to see what’s working for one team works for the other.”
Biola said many schools tend to overlook Jefferson, situated on the Eastern Panhandle and away from the more competitive teams on the other side of the state. But Biola is from the Elkins area and he’s comfortable in the Kingwood area. It’s a comfort level that seemed to rub off on his runners.
“We’re trying to bust out as a power in the state,” Biola said of both teams. “People don’t really know about us.”
The Jefferson girls have never placed better than fourth at the state meet. The boys, a little better, but never a team title.
Biola said he figures any plan that includes doing better than ever in school history is an admirable goal indeed. And in accomplishing that plan, Biola’s not overstepping his runners’ bounds as individuals.
“I’ve found it works pretty well if you just let people do what they need to do,” Biola said.
Biola said many schools tend to overlook Jefferson, situated on the Eastern Panhandle and away from the more competitive teams on the other side of the state. But Biola is from the Elkins area and he’s comfortable in the Kingwood area. It’s a comfort level that seemed to rub off on his runners.
“We’re trying to bust out as a power in the state,” Biola said of both teams. “People don’t really know about us.”
The Jefferson girls have never placed better than fourth at the state meet. The boys, a little better, but never a team title.
Biola said he figures any plan that includes doing better than ever in school history is an admirable goal indeed. And in accomplishing that plan, Biola’s not overstepping his runners’ bounds as individuals.
“I’ve found it works pretty well if you just let people do what they need to do,” Biola said.
|
|
|
|
