The Shepherd Hill boys and girls cross country teams are still on the rather small side, especially when it comes to their counterparts in the Mid-Wach League, but both Rams coaches are optimistic about the future. 

“Overall, as a team we will not be super competitive in the Mid-Wach A – most of the schools that we will be going up against bring 60-70 kids to a meet,” boys’ head coach Len Harmon said. “Being a small team, we do not have the depth to do damage as a team, but hopefully some of the younger kids coming out this year can help us to improve.”

Riley Lepage, third year runner for Shepherd Hill.

 Under the guidance of Harmon, the boys’ squad has 11 athletes gracing their roster this fall with senior tri-captain Nathaniel Grant being the team’s most talented runner. Grant holds the distinction of being the first runner in Shepherd Hill history to break the 16-minute mark in a 5K race. The senior posted a 15:57 time. Grant helped the Rams to a fourth-place finish as a team in the Mid-Wach A League last year and as an individual he finished in the top 10 at the Division 2 B Meet, while crossing the line in the top 30 at the Division 2 State Meet.

Harmon noted that Grant was not only a great kid, but he has come a long way with cross country when he first started as a freshman. During that inaugural season the now senior could barely run a mile, but now he loves challenging himself on the courses.

Another senior tri-captain, Riley Lepage is a third-year runner for the Rams and according to the coach is very versatile individual, especially during track season.

“He is my Swiss army knife. In track he does it all: running, jumping and throwing,” the coach said. “As for cross country, he is a solid 5K runner and a great leader that enjoys helping the younger kids to improve.”

The final tri-captain for Shepherd Hill is junior Thomas Kennan, a committed runner and one of the hardest workers that Harmon has ever had the pleasure of coaching. Harmon believes that Kennan is going to be a sleeper for the team this year and is looking to break his way into the top five.

Sophomore Rydyr Finlay came on strong at the end of his last season and after putting together a strong summer of training looks to have the inside track on the Rams number three runner.

Knowing that he doesn’t have a stacked team, Harmon is looking to focus on getting his two seniors to achieve their high-level goals, while helping the younger runs to continue to improve.

“Nathaniel is definitely looking to continue to run in college, while Riley is also looking forward to college but in track, not cross country,” the Rams coach said. “Overall, I am a patient coach that takes what I am given and try to help them achieve in addition to getting them ready for their future and development.”

Much like the boys’ team, the Shepherd Hill girls’ squad is also carrying 11 runners this fall, unlike the past two years where they didn’t have enough athletes (at least 5) to score in their meets.

“It’s been tough,” Nicole Fossas, girls’ head coach said. “Having very small numbers made it extremely difficult, but right now we have 11 girls heading into the season.”
   Fossas is beyond ecstatic having five freshman runners, the most she has had in 6 years, sign up, However, at the time of this writing she had only three days with the new flock and really doesn’t know a lot about their talent as of yet and doesn’t know what to expect from them at this point.

While the girls coach does not know what her freshman class of runners will bring to the table this season, she does know what 8th grader and the Rams number one female runner, Abby Avakian, is capable of doing. Last year as a seventh grader, she not only worked her way up to become the Rams number one runner, she also qualified for the State Meet, where she finished 19th and the All-State Meet, finishing 51st.

“Abby had a great summer training and did all the work that I gave her to help her improve,” Fossas said. “Last year it was hard to predict what she was going to do being only a seventh grader and heading into some of the biggest meets of her life. It was a very different atmosphere for her, but I firmly believe that she is capable of improving upon those numbers as a very young individual.”

Avakian has not only come to love the sport, but she also wants to continue to improve each and every year.

Senior Captains Megan Andress and Nicole Christian are the team’s number two and three runners, respectively. While on any given day the positions could flip it has been Andress who holds a personal best time of 19:45, while Christian’s best time is 21:40. Megan may be the consensual number two for the Rams, but Fossas is interested in seeing what the two will do this fall.

Junior Julia Gard was looking to be the Ram’s fourth female finisher, but at that moment she is injured after being overused during the sprig track season. 

According to Fossas, the junior will be back, hopefully by mid-October, but for the meantime she just needs to take some time to recover and regenerate her body.

Fossas would love nothing more than to see at least five girls lining up to start a race at the league and division meets. If the young girls can hang on to the sport, while staying healthy and motivated, Fossas’ dreams could possible come true by the end of the season. 

With the extended numbers of runners on both this year’s boys and girls cross country teams the Rams are looking rather bright for the future of the schools program.