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.

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.

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.”

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.