Longer runs may be on the schedule the last week of September for the Huskies.

That isn’t a big deal for Hillcrest’s cross country teams; they’re used to them. What’s ahead on the schedule in October are their big meets: region on Oct. 3, divisionals on Oct. 15; JV state on Oct. 26 and varsity state, Oct. 29.

Cross country head coach Scott Stucki likes his chances for extending the boys’ streak in running at state to 19 straight years.  

“If we can keep everyone healthy and run our best, we should be in a good position at state,” he said.

The girls would look at their fourth year in a row. 

Regardless if the teams qualify, Stucki predicts he will have individuals running at state.

The boys’ team is led by senior Josh Martin, who consistently “has been a podium-finisher for us.”

This season, he has run six of his eight races in the top 10, four of them in the top three.

“Josh is running well; he is having a good season and has a couple schools interested in having him run for them next year,” Stucki said. “He should medal at state.”

Medals are awarded for the top 10 runners.  

Consistently running No. 2 for the Huskies is senior Matt Keller, followed by junior Levi Walton. Junior Jonathan Dastrup and senior Jack McDonough round out the top five, completing the team score.

“We’ve been rotating our six and seven runners, depending on how fast they run,” Stucki said. “I feel confident the boys will be at state.”

The girls’ team, though, is younger as expected as top runner junior Claire McCann elected to concentrate on playing lacrosse, leaving that No. 1 position open for sophomore Ella Goodman to lead the team.  

“We only have 14 girls, the majority are underclassmen so we should be stronger in years to come,” he said.

Sophomores Zoey Hendrickson, Tavia Wilde, Ashlee Kelly are running varsity along with seniors Kaitlyn Updike and Charly Nelson.

Early in the season, Hillcrest held its “Run with the Huskies.”

“We had alumni return and set some course records,” he said.

Martin set the 5K record for current students at 16:22 while Anthony Davis ‘21, set the men’s record at 15:59; “he’s the first to run it under 16 minutes,” Stucki said. 

Edith Neslen ‘24 set the women’s record at 19:52, the first under 20 minutes. She holds the student record at 20:30. λ