By Araya Gomez
The Silver Lake Cross Country team will be led by Coach Kel Knehans, who has brought great success to the team for the past 8 seasons. The team graduated Paige Faimon, who is competing in cross country and track at Hastings College. However, the rest of the team features some key returners who are looking to continue their success from the past season. The team features seniors Hayden Karr, Frank Thomas, and Jayden Parr; sophomores Kaylee Karr and Lee Gibson; and freshman Devin Maudlin. Maudlin had an excellent cross country career in his junior high seasons, placing 3rd in the conference meet last year. Both Hayden Karr and Kaylee Karr earned Twin Valley Conference honors and placed at the conference meet last season. The team looks to build on last season’s success and earn personal records this season.
On August 28, the team competed in an exhibition race at Brickyard Park in Hastings. Other teams competing included Hastings, Blue Hill, and Kenesaw. The team started the year off strong with almost all runners earning a personal record. Coach Knehans stated, “Most of our runners set big PRs in this meet, which was exciting since it was the first meet of the year. We have a great foundation to build on going forward!” Good luck to the cross country team this season!