By: Julie Robinson

Chad Moore and Anthony, Kayla, and Christie Stricker are four very exceptional athletes at Oak Grove. Chad is in the eleventh grade, Anthony and Kayla are in the tenth grade, and Christie is in the eighth grade. Chad is on the cross country and the track teams, Anthony is on the soccer, cross country, track, powerlifting, and football teams, Kayla is also on the soccer, cross country and track teams, and Christie is on the middle school soccer team and the high school  cross country and track teams. Though they play other sports, this family’s specialties are cross country and track. They all always place in at least the top ten at every cross country meet. They also place in the top four in their track events. Chad, Kayla, and Christie have not placed below fifth place at a single cross country meet this season. To achieve such athletic superiority this family must train extensively.

These athletes wake up at six every morning before school to run. The girls run up to four miles while the boys often run up to five miles. They run after school with the cross country team during the fall semester and with the track team during the spring semester. To crosstrain, Kayla is training with Hub Fins swim team at the YMCA. This family not only runs at the cross country and track meets with the school, but they also run recreational meets in between cross country and track seasons to stay fit. During the summer, the family often runs on the Long Leaf Trace, works with AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), and runs 5k road races.

The Oak Grove Cross Country Team has benefited greatly because of Chad, Anthony, Kayla, and Christie. They came to Oak Grove from Poplarville in October of last year and joined the cross country team immediately. Suddenly, all of the best Oak Grove runners had new rivals. Poplarville High School’s cross country team lost its best runners, and their team suffered greatly. Dallas, the Stricker’s younger brother, who is three years old, is already running one mile in 12 and a half minutes. He plans to follow in his brothers’ and sisters’ footsteps.

On November 21st of this year, these four outstanding athletes were invited by Nike to participate in a race in Houston, Texas. This invitation proves their athletic excellence. The boys’ and girls’ races were attended by over 200 runners from around the nation. On the day of the race, the family ran in the rain, which made their course very muddy and therefore many of the runners were sloppy in their efforts. Chad, Anthony, Kayla, and Christie did not run as well as they had hoped they would due to the weather.

These siblings will continue to perfect their athletic abilities and help bring the Warrior Cross Country Team the state title in years to come.