Fallsnewspress.com - Falls girls cross country to be led by its 'four pack'

by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

Kayleigh Scourfield and Allison Hainer often left other runners in the dust during several races last year.

In many ways, that was a good thing for Cuyahoga Falls' fifth-year head coach Dan Scourfield.

On the other hand, it wasn't such a good thing for the coach.

That's because the two standout junior runners left their teammates in the dust, too.

"They were way ahead of our other girls," the coach said. "We did not have any pack running in the front."

Those days might be long gone.

Thanks to some talented underclassmen, Kayleigh Scourfield and Hainer may have some company for much of the races in 2010.

Sophomore Liz Hoenigman and freshman Zoey Bosley are not only planning to anchor the third and fourth spots, they also are expected to push Falls' top two performers.

"Those four have been running together during every workout," the coach said. "I think Kayleigh and Allison like having people to run with them. They're savvy enough to know that having two more girls scores more team points."

The Lady Black Tigers could certainly use a few more points. They finished fifth out of six teams at the Northeast Ohio Conference River Division meet despite having two of the better runners in the state.

Kayleigh Scourfield finished 53rd at the Division I state meet while Hainer crossed the finish line in 99th.

"They're one and two or 1A and 1B," the coach said.

Falls lost two key runners from the previous year to graduation. They are Chelsey Bruce, who often ran third behind the Lady Black Tigers' talented duo, and Liz Bedell, a University of Akron student who is helping the team as an assistant coach.

Dan Scourfield will definitely miss their leadership qualities. But he believes the 2010 roster might be his finest yet.

"This is the most excited I've been about this team since my first year," the coach said. "What really makes me happy is all of them have put in the summer mileage."

Sophomore Teresa Zita is expected to run in the fifth spot for the Lady Black Tigers.

"Teresa ran track but did not run cross country," the coach said. "She looks really good."

Other returning runners include juniors Madison Matthews and Hallie Shaw and sophomores Sam Nockengost, Lexie Swagler and Hailey Kramer. Junior Deidre Pulley is a first-year runner. Also in the mix is a third Scourfield -- freshman Lauren Scourfield.

"There is definitely going to be some competition for varsity spots," the coach said. "I'm really optimistic. They haven't cut any corners. They did what they're supposed to do."

Joe Nowak returns as an assistant coach.

Falls' girls won't need too much time to learn how good they really are.

The River Division is loaded with talented runners which include North Royalton's Hannah Necyzpor, who finished third at the Division I state meet, Stow-Munroe Falls' Katie Betts (10th) and Mayfield's Deanna Godby (17th).

"It will be a very challenging division, but we got better," the coach said. "We added some talent and we've got a lot of our girls back from last year."

The Lady Black Tigers are scheduled to compete at the Golden Eagles XC Invitational Aug. 28 at GlenOak High School in Canton. The race is set to begin at 10 a.m.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3914