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Malden launches new cross country program
MALDEN, Mo. - Malden High School announced the start up of a new fall sport for student athletes to participate in.
On Sunday, June 23, Malden held its first ever cross country sign-up meeting.
Head cross country coach Dalton Freshour said the meeting was a way for him to kick things off for the team. He offered the meeting as a chance for students and parents to ask questions about the newly included sport.
“I wanted to let people know the rundown of how things would go with it being a first-year program,” Freshour said. “There were a lot of questions and confusion on how it would work and with us being a small school, several of the athletes we will have will be playing in multiple sports at the same time.”
Malden High School decided to launch the cross country program after having a few students go to the board of directors to fight for the initiation of a team.
One of those athletes was senior Rylie Brown.
Brown, who is a distance runner for Malden’s track and field team, said she has been advocating for a cross country team since her freshman year.
“I want to go to the collegiate level and hopefully run track,” Brown said. “I thought cross country is just a good opportunity to get my times down for the mile and 3200m on the track.”
Much like track, cross country is a running sport in which the competition is a race. The main difference being cross country is competed on outdoor courses with natural terrains rather than on the rubbered surface of a track.
While track is in the spring for Missouri high school, cross country is considered a fall sport. Most high school cross country meets will have competitors race a 5k over different terrains such as dirt, grass and hills.
As the school began discussions of launching cross country, Freshour offered himself as the inaugural coach for the fall.
“I’ve been around coaching my whole educational career,” Freshour said. “In only my seventh year in education, I’ve coached basketball, baseball and I’ve done track. So now I want to dabble in cross country. There are some kids who are good individuals to be around and you don’t want a situation where they can’t have the chance to do something they want to do. There wasn’t a lot of interest in the coaching position. I thought if I didn’t do it, then no one would.”
Freshour, along with assistant coach Diana Wilkerson, agreed to coach and lead the cross country team. They put out a notice so students from sixth through 12th grade could attend the meeting and sign up for the team.
Right now, Freshour is looking to recruit a good number of runners and give them an opportunity to try the sport. He said he just wants to make sure the newcomers don’t immediately hate the sport since it is such a niche acquired taste.
Freshour knows he will have to compete and work around the already established sports at Malden. Along with cross country, Brown will still be playing for the Green Wave volleyball team this season.
Another senior athlete, Miguel Redfoot, will be picking up his fourth sport this year as he also competes in football, basketball and track and field. Despite already competing year round in three different sports, Redfoot was excited to join the cross country program,
“Last year I did track for the first time,” Redfoot said. “I asked to do long distance and I kind of liked it. Then they opened up cross country this year and my coach talked with me about it and I thought it sounded cool to do.”
During track season, Redfoot runs the 800m and mile as well as the 4x400m and 2 mile.
He said joining the cross country team will help him run better on the track. Brown also believes having a cardio-based sport such as cross country will help athletes in other sports too.
“Running is all cardio,” Brown said. “In other sports you run for punishment. This helps you get your cardiovascular muscles stronger. Players are huffing on the basketball court or volleyball court and on the football field because we’re all struggling to breath because we don’t have good cardio. If you’re running as a sport, you’re building those cardiovascular muscles up and everyone can benefit from that.”
Despite this being Redfoot and Brown’s first time running cross country and their senior year, both athletes are hoping to set a good tone for the inaugural season.
Brown said cross country can help her overcome some mental barriers she faced on the track and will allow her to get to the next level of her running career. She hopes to get recruited by a coach to run in college and also qualify for the state championships this year.
Redfoot is also seeking a state qualification, but his focus is to continue to improve throughout the season.
Freshour just wants to have a good number of runners and have fun in this first season.
“We had a large list of individuals who said they were interested,” Freshour said. “I want these seniors to have a good last year in their first year of cross country, with PRs and the highs that come with the cross country season and be able to make it to state. I also want those individuals who are with them to have fun with it as well and come back. I want to be able to do this again next year.”