ROGERS -- Rogers Heritage cross country coach Jeff Shaw didn't mince words when talking about how last season ended for the Lady War Eagles, who finished second at the Class 7A state meet.
"It was a big disappointment, Shaw said. "No question about it. We had the team to win it."
Rogers Heritage Cross Country Schedule
Date^Race^Time
Aug. 23^Rogers Eliminator Run^7 a.m.
Aug. 30^Memphis Twilight^6 p.m.
Sept. 11^Carthage (Mo.) Invitational^3:30 p.m.
Sept. 20^Missouri Southern, Joplin^10 a.m.
Sept. 27^Rim Rock Classic, Lawrence, Kan.^11 a.m.
Oct. 4^Chile Pepper, Fayetteville^10 a.m.
Oct. 28^Mountie Classic/7A-West Conference^3:30 p.m.
Nov. 8^Class 7A State, Hot Springs^TBA
Heritage was looking for back-to-back state titles and appeared poised to do so, returning many of its top runners. Heritage also won the prestigious Chile Pepper Festival for the first time in school history.
However, conference foe Fayetteville nipped the Lady War Eagles in a close contest.
Senior Kesley Brown, who finished sixth overall at state a year ago, said last year's group was a bit overconfident.
"We thought we had a win ahead of us the whole time for state and then we didn't win," said Brown, who was Heritage's top individual finisher at state last year. "It wasn't something anybody said. It was like an unconscious thought."
Brown said this year's group has a different outlook.
"We lost a couple of good seniors and now we don't know what to expect," Brown said. "We're all going out there and running as hard as we can instead of expecting to win."
Shaw said this year's team led by Brown may be deeper than a year ago, but will take some time to mature.
Brown, junior Katie Powell and freshman Maddi Blaine currently make up the Lady War Eagles' top three, but freshman Charity Rohrbough, senior Jessica Lilze and sophomore Megan Anglin are also among the top group.
Powell battled injuries much of last year and finished 44th at the state meet, but is looking strong in workouts, Shaw said.
"She's been looking incredible," Shaw said. "She's been up running with Kesley every day. Maddi's a sophomore, who is more of a track runner. She ran the 400 last year, but she's been running well. She and Jessica have been like 3A and 3B. The freshman isn't even in high school shape yet, but she's up there, too."
"I think we can be OK by the time it's all over."
The Heritage boys will be looking to improve on a seventh-place finish at the state meet, but will do it with a lot less experienced team.
Sophomore James Parker finished 40th at state and is the top returnee.
But Shaw said it's a hard-working group.
"What I like about the boys' team is they group up and push each other every practice," Shaw said. "That's how you get better."
Parker said the team will miss some of the graduates for their leadership, but they are looking forward to a new season.
"I was rather new to the sport, but I was definitely running my best races at the end," Parker said.
Seniors Jack Johnson and Mason Wolfe, who struggled at times with injuries last season, make up the War Eagles' top three.
Sophomore Javier Hernandez and junior David Martinez are also among the top group.
"Javier and David are a couple good surprises," Shaw said. "Javier is looking a lot stronger this year and David was hurt some last year. They have both been consistently in our top four or five."
Sports on 08/17/2014