By Ken Hansard
The McAuley Catholic High School girls’ cross country team accomplished a feat last season that had never happened in the short 13-year history of their program – they were crowned the Ozark 7 Conference Champions. They went on from there to place third at Districts and eighth overall at State. There is a lot to be optimistic about entering the 2024 season, and if a few things fall into place for Coach Youngworth and his Warriors, there is good reason to believe that they can duplicate last season’s success – and possibly even surpass it.
Youngworth, now in his fourth season with the Warriors, and 31st overall, gives a lot of credit to his community and his coaching staff for the culture that is being created in his program. He praises his fellow coaches, both at the middle school and the high school levels, for helping to shape the culture of his teams, and he acknowledges the importance of the support of his community’s parents. The history that he shared shows a steady upward trend in the Warriors’ success, “Our program started in 2013, so we don’t have a long-standing tradition for cross country. We qualified for state for the first time in school history in 2022, which was also the first year we had a team score in school history. We finished 13th as a team. We had one state medalist in 2022. Last year we improved on our 2022 finish with an eighth-place team finish with two state medalists, and as this season opens, we hope to equal or improve on that.”
If the Warriors are going to have the type of success that they expect this season, they will have to find a way to replace Kendall Ramsey, a two-time state medalist who graduated in the spring and is now running for Pittsburg State. Coach Youngworth knows that replacing Ramsey will likely take a team approach. He says that the Warriors will rely on five or six runners to improve on last year’s performances. Some of the returners who will be called on to make that leap will be senior Genevieve Billings, junior Samantha Perrin, and sophomores Olivia Parrigon and Riley Sears. Parrigon was last year’s Ozark 7 Champion in addition to being named to the 1st team Class 1 District team and the 1st team SWCCCA All-Regional team. She was also an 11th place medalist at state. Sears made the Ozark 7 Second Team and the SWCCCA Second Team. A few newcomers will also likely be called upon to make an immediate impact, including sophomore Samantha Conrad and freshmen Ellie Bohachich and Edie Nolan.
Coach Youngworth and his staff are adamant about using the culture of their program, not just to obtain athletic success, but moreover to enhance the lives of their students, “We have high expectations for the season, but we try to break everything up into short and long-term goals. We talk a lot about winning the day and not worrying too much about November. We try to keep our goals simple: be competitive at all of our meets; compete for a conference and district championship; make it to the podium as a team; and most importantly, everyone improves as a runner and a person. We truly want all of our athletes to reach their personal goals and their full potential – spiritually, academically, and athletically.”
