Aidan Duke

Writer

On Tuesday, Aug. 30 a cross country meet was held by the Marlow Cross Country teams at Redbud Park.

Coming off a very successful season last year, both teams were ready to excel against their new competition in Class 4A.  

The boys cross country team won first place at State in 3A for the second time, being named back-to-back champions last year.

The girls’ team placed third at State last year and are ready to be challenged with the chance to place higher this year.

Both the girls and boys teams have been focusing on the upcoming season through hours of practice as they seek to achieve their goals for this new season now that they are in class 4A.

Tuesday, Aug. 30 was the first meet of the new season for both of the teams.

Not only were the Outlaws facing the challenge of running in a new class but they were also facing the challenge of falling rain.   

The weather held its overcast until it was time for the high school boys to begin their race, and as Marlow’s Coach Ivory raised the starting pistol in the air, the first drops began to fall. 

The boys team ran two miles while the girls team ran one mile at the race.

With the recent addition of students to the high school, cross country was required to move up in classes.

Now that the cross country team is in 4A, they will be going against harder competition and will have to push themselves to the limit.

The  teams have been preparing for this year like previous ones by starting early morning practices during the summer. 

Head coach Mickey Eaves  has pushed his runners to new heights. 

“We have a lot of talented teams in 4A this year including ourselves,” stated Eaves. “It’s a tight race all around, and we will see by the end who will be the teams to beat.”

Eaves is not the only coach that pushes their runners to excellence.

One of the coaches that helps Eaves with the high school cross country teams is third year cross country coach Tammy Miller.

“I feel our teams competed very well at the meet,” stated Miller.  “If our athletes push each other more in practice it will help us improve.”

There were twelve teams at the cross country meet all competing to get first place.

Some of the teams that participated at the meet were Cache, Chickasa, and Newcastle.

The Cache cross country boys team placed first at the meet on Tuesday, and they will continue to be one of Marlow’s toughest competitors this season.

The Marlow boys cross country team got second overall at the competition, running very well.

One of the runners for the high school boys cross country was sophomore Mikey Weston.

“I feel the hardest competition for us will be Cache,” stated Weston “ We as a team can get better everyday.”

The girls cross country team also did very well at the competition placing fourth overall.

One of the runners for the Marlow High School girls team was junior Lauren Ivory.

Ivory is on the girls varsity team and is now helping other girls push themselves to greater lengths .

“I am very proud of my whole team for doing well at the meet,” stated Ivory. “We can continue to improve and build on this first race we had.”

The Cache cross country girls team placed first overall in the high school girls race.

The new teams that Marlow will face in Class 4A will continue to challenge the Outlaws and show a greater level of competition than seen in the past.   

Both of Marlow’s teams placed really well at the Redbud Meet and plan to challenge one another in practice to achieve their future goals for the continuing season.