The Wright City boys and girls cross country teams might be a little low on numbers, but their family dynamic would have you thinking otherwise. 

With two girls and six boys, interim Head Coach David Schnell said he feels good about entering the season, noting it was a great group of kids who are motivated. 

Schnell will be taking over the head coaching position until the end of August due to Head Coach Ryan Heyel being away for obligations to the United States Army. 

Just like Heyel, Schnell has been instilling the same mentality in the team that the family aspect comes first and athletics will follow. 

“It’s a small group and it’s a very tight-knit group,” Schnell said. “They really enjoy those easy runs together when they can hang out, so that family aspect is really present in this group.” 

The Wildcats return some of their top performers, including Lindsay Pettus, Ada Ferrell, Cade Hornberger and Matthew Johnston. 

Schnell believes both Pettus and Ferrell have the key components to qualify for the state meet at the end of the year. He also noted that Johnston is their top returner and will set the pace for the team. 

Pettus added that she wants to improve her times this year, but also better her mentality. 

“I catch myself saying like, ‘oh you can stop, you’ll be fine,’ but I want to get rid of that mentality so I can do my best,” Pettus said. 

Johnston, who is only a sophomore, would like to slowly see his progression. 

“The top 30 goes to state and last year I got 90, so I’m looking to get top 60 and see that minor improvement,” Johnston said. 

Schnell went on to say that Hornberger has shown huge improvement since last year. 

“He’s had a fantastic summer and he’s been showing huge strides compared to his times last year, so I think he will do some really exciting things,” Schnell said. 

The team has added three freshmen boys to the roster, allowing for a good mixture of upperclassmen and underclassmen.  

“We have a lot of talent on the team and some kids that are just really excited to run cross country,” Schnell said. 

The team has been honing in on building up their distance and stamina, while also working on leg turnover and speed. 

“We want that speed to be sticking around for the whole race rather than just the shorter distance,” Schnell said. 

The Wright City boys team will start their season at the Van-Far Invite on Sept. 9. The girls will begin on Sept. 14 at the Linn Invitational.