Tag Archives: Cross Country

December 14, 2012 · 1:32 pm

Run, Murphey, run: Junior goes for gold

By: Tyler Lee

Staff Reporter

For Will Murphey, cross country is a lifestyle. Murphey, junior, trains every day, running 30-50 miles a week, depending on where the team is during the season. Murphey began running cross country the summer before his freshman year of high school. During Murphey’s freshman year, he finished 21st in the state championship with a time of 17 minutes and 34 seconds, but that has changed since then. Just one year later, as a sophomore, Murphey finished first with a time of 16 minutes 27 seconds, cutting off over a minute from the year before. On November 10, Murphey made the 5,000 meter trek around Choctaw Trails in 16 minutes and 29 seconds to claim his second straight state title. Murphey believes winning next year will be harder than ever. “It basically means I have to work twice as hard to go for the three-peat,” he said. Murphey plans on training harder than ever to capture his third title. “Not many people have won three straight state championships. Hopefully I can graduate with three state championships.”

After graduating from high school, Murphey plans on running in college, but he is still undecided on where he wants to go. If Murphey is not out running on the trails, he can be found mixing beats in his studio as DJ Moreau Murphey.

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October 12, 2012 · 1:30 pm

Oak Grove Cross Country dashes for District, State titles

By: Kirk McCarty

Staff Reporter

The OGHS Cross Country team dashes to the finish line in a recent practice. | by MARY KATE WALDRON

The Oak Grove High School Cross Country teams are approaching the peak of their season and are looking poised to be competitors for the 6A state title. The state competition takes place on November 10 at Choctaw Trails in Clinton, Mississippi. Through six meets, neither the boys’ nor girls’ team has placed below third place. Competing and placing well in these regular season meets is great for experience and confidence but has no worth in the team’s main goal, which is winning the district meet and advancing to and winning State. Since Coach Robin Ryder took over, the cross country team has been on a steady climb to the top of the food chain in Class 6A.

Last year, the boys placed fourth and the girls placed second in the state meet. This year, however, both teams look to improve and take a total team State Championship, which would be the first in Oak Grove history. Will Murphey, who won the individual state championship last year as a sophomore, returns for his junior season looking to repeat as individual champion but also win a team title. “We’ve worked harder than ever this year, and we really think we’ve got a shot to win state,” Murphey said. The boys’ team is led by Murphey, followed by Josh Aust, Todd Mabry, Nicholai Drake, Jacob McNeese, Nick Canner, Tim Hayes and Wesley Walton.

The girls, who have finished first twice, second once, and third once in this season’s meets, are led by junior Christie Stricker, who comes from a long line of runners in her family, followed by Dana Dillistone, Chloe Sanders, Bailee Norman, Sarah Rubelowsky, Laken Pineda and Erica Lewis. The girls’ team isn’t as clear-cut as the boys with spots three through seven often alternating among the team.  For four of the top seven runners, this will be the team’s last shot at a title and an opportunity none of them want to let slip away. Senior Chloe Sanders said, “This year’s team is a very complete team that works hard all of the time, and I believe we have a good chance of winning State.”

With three weeks to go before the district meet, both the boys and girls are continuing to work harder than ever in order to achieve their first ever cross country state championship.

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November 4, 2011 · 12:51 pm

Warrior Cross Country trains for State Championship

By: Elizabeth Lee
Staff Reporter

Warrior cross country runners have performed well all season and are aiming to represent OG well at the State Championship.

The Warrior cross country team has had an outstanding season thus far, which was reflected by their rankings in the Regional meet on Thursday, October 27th,  at Mississippi College’s Choctaw Trails. Both the boys’ and the girls’ teams placed first in the region, an

d 13 runners (seven girls and six boys) placed in the top 20 out of all the individual competing runners, earning them the title of All Region. Will Murphy and Christie Stricker, sophomores, both won first place in the meet.

The team’s successful season has earned them a spot at the State cross Country meet on Saturday, November 5th, again at Choctaw Trails. All of the rigorous training early in the season has clearly paid off, so now to prime for the State meet, Coach Robin Ryder says the runners are “tapering,” or reducing the amount of  running they do in preparation for the important event. Also, before every meet, each of the members of the team eats honey in order to boost energy naturally without upsetting their stomachs.

Last year, the girls’ team placed second in the state, and the boys placed third. The girls’ team plans to surpass last year’s record and are preparing for the meet in basically the same way as last year. Chloe Sanders, junior, plans to make her personal record at the meet. “I feel confident that this is our year to win,” Sanders said. The boys are taking a different approach from last year, though. Since one of the team’s most gifted runners, Chad Moore, graduated, the boys’ team is focusing on running more as a team instead of individually. “I want to do my part on the team. We have a really great chance of winning State, but we all have to run our best,” senior Jackson Shahady said. “It’s a team effort, not a single man effort.” Some of the team’s biggest competition this year are Madison Central for the girls’ team, Ocean Springs for the boys’ team, and Tupelo, which has won the

Senior Kayla Stricker has consistently finished with great times and is preparing for the State Championship on Friday, November 5th.

meet ten years in a row. Coach Ryder has made it clear that he is already proud of his runners no matter where they place. “I’m proud of the senior class because they have really improved the way cross country has been viewed at Oak Grove,” Ryder said. The team’s new strategy of working together combined with confidence could be just what they need to bring home the title of Cross Country State Champions to Oak Grove.

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December 11, 2009 · 1:15 pm

Cross Country: A family affair for local runners

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.

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November 13, 2009 · 1:50 pm

No rest for Oak Grove runner

By: Taylor Herring

Junior Chad Moore excels in both athletics and academics. Chad, a member of the Oak Grove Cross Country Team, was recently named the two time Boys District Champion. His instructor, Coach Ryder, said that Chad won the race by over 30 seconds, and he expected him to do very well at the state competition.

Ryder was correct in assuming Moore would be successful; he finished fourth at the state competition at Mississippi College in Clinton, MS.

Moore runs five miles every morning, and averages five miles in the afternoon as well. Practicing with the team six days a week, Chad runs sixty miles each week. This is not a huge deal for him, however, because he has been running competitively for four years. To maintain endurance, many runners restrict themselves to eating a low-fat diet and drinking only water and milk. Chad is no exception; his diet consists of high protein foods and no carbonated beverages.

In order to continue performing the way he does, Moore focuses on how hard he has worked to become such a great runner. Moore credits his determination to maintain his rigorous running schedule to focusing his energy on glorifying God. Of course, winning first place in many of his meets is quite the encouragement as well. Moore said that he does plan to continue competing in cross country after high school. He hopes to earn a scholarship through the program as well, and feels confident that he will do so.

The entire team has done incredibly well this season. As Moore watches his teammates succeeding as well, he has even more of an incentive to persevere. “This cross country season went really well,” Moore said. “The team has won more meets and more individual events this year than ever before.”

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September 4, 2009 · 12:46 pm

Warrior Sports Notes

Football

The Warriors kicked off the 2009 football season against Bassfield on Saturday, August 22. After a rough first half where they were down 20-10, the team pulled out a victory, beating the Yellow Jackets 30-20. Jay Hughes, a senior, was the leading scorer.

The following Friday, the Warriors battled one of their biggest rivals, the Petal Panthers. After a close game with Bassfield, the team spent many hours practicing and preparing for the game. With two quarterbacks out with injuries, Oak Grove was down 10-0 at half time. A quick pep talk in the locker room gave the Warriors confidence to come back. With an extraordinary touch down made by Steve McNair Jr., the final score was 21-18, giving the Warriors an undefeated start to the season.

Swimming

The Oak Grove High School swim team began another season under Coach Nora Rapetti on August 20 with their first practice at USM’s Natatorium.  The team meets for practice every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, as well as on the Fridays that a football game is not scheduled.

The team hopes the practice and preparation will pay off and they will be able to perform as well at South State in October as they did during last season, where the boys’ team won and the girls’ team placed among the top 10.  The competitors are working towards making the state qualifying time at or before South State to make it to the state competition October 24.

The team will begin its competition season on September 8 at Picayune, where they’ll compete  in a head-to-head.

Volleyball

Volleyball season started off with a rough beginning. With only eight returning players from previous years, the team is very young. The Lady Warrior volleyball team has played four games so far this season. All of the games were really close; however, the varsity only came out with one victory and the junior varsity with two. The team practices Monday through Thursday from four to six in hopes that they can work better as a team and have success throughout the season. This past weekend, the varsity members participated in the annual Gulf Coast Kick-Off held by Our Lady Academy’s volleyball team. They played very well and had all close games; however, they only pulled out one victory.  The team has a lot of passion for volleyball and they expect more wins to come.

Cross Country

On August 22, the Oak Grove Cross Country team participated in their first meet of the season. The outcomes of both the boys’ and girls’ divisions were very good. Kristie Stricker, an eighth grader, placed first overall in the girls’ division. Chad Moore, an eleventh grader, placed first overall in the boys’ division. Poplarville, Clinton, PCS, Petal, and Picayune also competed in the meet.

The second meet, held at Choctaw Trails, ended well for both divisions. The girls placed first and the boys placed second. The team was very excited about the outcome of this meet. The team has worked very hard these first few weeks and it has clearly paid off. Our diligent Cross Country team will continue to practice for the next meet on Friday, September 4 at Tatum Park.

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