Crawfordsville cross country has had consistent success over the last decade. Former coach Megan Craig built the Athenian program into regular county champions and led each program to three Sagamore Conference titles.
Now, in his first year at the helm of the program, Jared McMurry is excited about the opportunity to help the program reach those same high marks.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to not only lead this program, but take it over during such a high period of success,” McMurry said. “Coach Craig built this into a model distance program for our area, and those high expectations will remain the same. County, conference, and competing at a high-level in the state tournament are all achievable goals for both teams this season.”
The Athenian boys are the defending Sagamore Conference and county champions, and return five of their top seven runners. Replacing school record holder and Jacksonville University commit Ryan Miller won’t be easy, but a group of returning seniors will be the glue in 2024.
“Seniors Max Brumett, Cole Capper, Hutton Haas and Jantzen Thayer will not only be our top runners, but they will be our leaders this season,” McMurry said. “They are hard workers, and represent our team well on and off the course.”
McMurry also expects to see an improvement from returner sophomore Josh Inskeep and junior Colten Custer. Sophomore Alex Sanchez and juniors Campbell Murray and Andrew Turner are expected to compete for varsity time.
On the girls side, the Athenians return juniors Remy Swinford and Caroline Novak alongside sophomore Soren Olofson. Juniors Katherine Novak and Li Li Yeung, sophomore Melanie Dowd and Paige Johnson will round out the top seven.
“We are young with no seniors, but Remy Swinford is the defending county champion and Katherine Novak is coming off a strong track season,” McMurry said. “This group is made up of a lot of multi-sport athletes, and I think that will pay off with steady improvement and mental toughness during our biggest meets.”
Crawfordsville opens the season at the Puckett Invitational at South Putnam on Saturday.
