Coming off a great season last year, the CHS boys’ and girls’ cross country teams seem well on their way to repeating success.
Led by a large group of returning runners, both teams have aspirations of making it to state and in the process are finishing in the top three in meets during the regular season.

Fifth-year coach Kurtis Werner has built the program from the ground up and has helped CHS earn the reputation as one of the top schools in Class 3. Both his coaching technique and ability to push his team to perform their best have been key reasons why the team has seen outstanding results from meets.

“His philosophy is that if we work as one solid unit, which helps each other move up in the races, a result will be that our times and places will go up dramatically,” said sophomore runner Lauren Indovino.

And they sure have. The first meet of the year at Forest Park witnessed the boys finishing second and the girls third out of a field of 25 and 19 schools. Not to mention a first and third place finish at Spanish Lake on Sept. 15 in a field of 14 schools.

In addition to focusing on the team, Werner strives to help individual runners and help take time off their personal records.
“He is very active in each individual runner and is generally concerned about each of us,” said junior Derrick Stone.

Along with the upperclassman experience of Derrick Stone and Nicole Indovino (12), there have been big improvements from other runners on the team.

“Just off an injury, Matt Millet (12) has really established himself as the lead runner, and Matthew Garrett (11) has also made great improvements,” Werner said.

When asked about what he enjoys most about being the cross-country coach, Werner said, “it’s fun to see success and to runners start to better understand the sport and get better.”

Despite losing two seniors, Tyler Markham and Joseph Dillon, that were top-five runners, Werner and the cross-country team expect to not lose a step. The talent found in the sophomores, in particular, Parker Schultz and Lauren Indovino, help give reassurance behind the large group of juniors and seniors when the team will be in the rebuilding process in the later future.

A key factor that isn’t found in personal best times or in the Class 3 standings is the great chemistry that the players share with their coach.

“He’s fun to be around and to talk to, which makes practices fun,” Stone said.