States has become the norm for Sheridan cross country

THORNVILLE, Ohio- For the eighth straight year, the Sheridan cross country team is heading to the state finals. All of which have been under head coach J.D. Walters.

Sheridan’s top runner, senior William Wilke said, “Walters does a good job of not just focusing on one good runner or a good pack, he focuses on everybody.”

Sheridan senior runner said, “Not a whole lot of coaches can say they’re consistently going to states. I got a lot of respect for Walters because he’s an amazing coach and he knows how to train kids.”

Needing a top seven finish at the Division 2 Regionals, to advance to states, the Generals were able to take 7th place, last weekend, and keep their states streak alive.

Sheridan senior runner, Evan Powell said, “It was like a 13th point difference for whether or not we made it. I really wanted to go. I’ve only had two years of this and I’d rather make my season as long as I can.

“Powell has actually ran his last two races, as his two fastest races ever,” Walters said. “His previous best was 18:18 going into our district meet and he ran in the 17:40’s so he had a 30 second drop. Then last week he also repeated that with his second fastest race ever at the regional.”

Leading the Generals all season long has been, Wilke, who won his third district individual title, and his third straight MVL individual title, which is tied for the most in league history.

“Just gonna get out there and race as hard as I can and focus,” Wilke said. “My kick isn’t to well but theses’ past two weeks, we’ve been really working on it. I feel like I’ll be able to have a really good decent kick.”

A big reason the Generals have had so much success in the last decade, is because there has always been that one runner, like Wilke, to lead the group. With an impressive freshman class this year, the Generals will be in good shape, this Saturday at states, and beyond.

Walters said, “Five of our top eight runners this year were freshman. So, really we have some seniors that want to finish they’re career off well and we have freshman that are trying to build experience for the future.”