West Fork girls cross country is ready to compete

The West Fork Warhawks girls cross country team is looking forward to the upcoming season. This year will be the first time the team will be able to compete as a team under head coach Laura Huber. Huber said that last year the Warhawks only had four runners, but this season the team has five runners right now.

The Warhawks’ first meet is at the Cross Country Invitational at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa West campus on August 29 at 4:30 p.m.

Heading into the season, Huber said she is excited with the fact that the team will not be able to compete as a team instead of just individuals. 

The team is a young team as the Warhawks lost half their runners to graduation after last year. Huber said that  she thinks the team is fine with that fact.

“They are such a close knit group of girls,” Huber said. “As I feel like most cross country teams are because it is such a family feel and dynamic. We practice junior high and varsity together from day one so the junior high kids from last year who are now freshmen, they know the upper classmen, they run with them, they train with them and they are already part of the varsity team.”

During the early practices, Huber, who is in her second year as the team’s head coach, said that a positive she has noticed is that she thinks the team is already in better shape than they were last season.

“The girls that I have I can tell that they have been training and putting in the work this summer and putting in the miles,” Huber said. “I am excited to see that hard work pay off.”

During the first couple of meets, Huber said she is hoping that the team stays positive.

“I feel that is something our girls, not all of them, but some of them can get down on themselves,” Huber said. “They have set some lofty goals for themselves and I would like to see them get out and compete well as a team and see where they place. I am excited to see where they stack up compared to other teams.”

As the season moves along for the Warhawks, Huber said she would love to see the team cut their times down and move up when it comes to where they place in races and get closer to the top 10s in meets. 

Junior Tarah Ruckdashel and freshman Evelyn Hitzhusen are some of the runners Huber said she has an eye on.

“I am really excited to see Ruckdashel as I think it could be a good year for her as well as Hitzhusen,” Huber said. “Hitzhusen competed really well as an eighth grader and I can’t wait to see how she comes out as a freshman.”

According to Huber, the Warhawks are pretty excited about the season as well.

“They were pretty bummed last year that they could not compete as a full team,” Huber said. “So they are really excited and ready to go and run as a team this year.”