By Mike Monahan

Charleston girls cross country coach Chris Hawk knows this will be a rebuilding season.

The fifth-year coach has only one senior returning to a young squad that includes six juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. 

“Losing five seniors to graduation last year was a pretty big hit to us as those girls have been a backbone of the team for several years now,” said Hawk. “ I have been pleasantly surprised with our group of newcomers this year; however, six of our 14 girls have never run high school cross country before, so it has been an adjustment for all of us.

The Trojans competed Saturday in the First to the Finish Invite at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, where the state meet is held. 

Amber Weiss, one of three returning lettermen was 271st with a time of 22:37.40 to lead CHS. Another returning letter winner, Grace Edwards, was 298th with a time of 23:09.20. 

Among the seniors Charleston lost were Ila Richter, Whitley Wood and Jordyn Keiffer, 

“With our strong group of seniors last year, it seemed like they barely needed me, at times,” said Hawk. “It was great to be able to trust them to run a practice or warmup and get to the starting line for races, if I was busy taking care of other things. We still have a good group of experienced juniors this year that learned by watching the last few years.They have been great so far in taking the younger, less experienced girls under their wings.  It is a bit of an adjustment for us all to get comfortable with the system, however, and I’m working to learn about the new runners as much as they are learning about the team.”

Freshman Chloe Curtright, was the third CHS finisher last Saturday with a time of 23:39.70, while sophomore Samantha Fehrenbacher was fourth for Trojans and 369th overall with a time of 24;35.80. 

A total of 476 runners and 34 teams were in the event. CHS was 46 overall in the invite won by Normal University with 51 points.

“Amber Weiss is our returner with the fastest time,” said Hawk. “She trained consistently over the summer and looks ready to have a great season. Grace Edwards was a new pickup from the softball team last year and she worked her way into our top seven by the end of the season. She has made big improvements since last year and is showing herself to be one of our leaders. Samantha Fehrenbacher is a new pickup this year, looking to build off of her impressive freshman track season where she was one of our top 400 and 800 runners. She is just learning to race, but was our top finisher at the CHS Invite.”

Charleston will compete in the Broadway Bolt in downtown Mattoon on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m.  

 “We have a solid second group of runners behind those three with Junior Hadley Webb, Sophomore Emma Karbassioon (ankle injury), and Freshmen Chloe Cartright and Mya Madlem,” said Hawk. 

The weather for Wednesday is expected to be cool as it was last Saturday. 

The heat and humidity that we have been dealing with these last few weeks has been pretty rough,” said Hawk. “It  has  prompted  us to go to early morning practices at times to try to avoid the worst of it.  Of course, everyone else has been dealing with it too, but I am expecting some faster times to start showing up as the weather improves.”

Three different runners have been the top finisher in previous races this season – Edwards went 24:07.3 in the Doc Acklin Memorial at Paris, Weiss clocked 23:09.8 on a 2.8 mile course at home, as well as Fehrenbacher (23;53.65) and now Weiss (22:37.40).

“I’m hoping that we can just continue to improve throughout the season, make it a fun team to be a part of, and look to come back even stronger next year.,” Hawk said. “If we can find a way to sneak into the top half of the conference or advance to the Sectional meet, that would be the icing on the cake.”

CHS roster

Senior: Mya Lehawld; Juniors: Grace Edwards*,Hannah Roberts, Courtney Villalobos, Hadley Webb, Josei Wehrle,  Amber Weiss*; Sophomores:Samantha Fehrenbacher Emma Karbassioon*,Ruthie Okrasiinski Libby Weiss. Freshmen: Chloe Cuturight, Mya Madle, Elle Shaw,

*-returning letter winners

2023 SCHEDULE

Wednesday at Mattoon Broadway Boldt, 4:45 p.m.; Sept. 26 at Taylorville, 4:30 p.m.; Sept. 30 at Peoria Invite, 9 a.m.

Oct. 2 at Altamont; Oct. 4, MATTOON, DECATUR MACARTHUR, DECATUR EISENHOWER (EIU trails), 4 p.m.; Oct. 10 Apollo Conference meet, at Taylorville, 1 p.m.; Oct. 14 at Effingham Bulldog Classic 9 a.m.; Oct. 21 Class 2A regional, TBA