Moeller Cross Country: Run Moeller Run
Cross country coach David Prenger has high hopes for this year’s squad, with aims towards individual growth and possibly a state championship. Mr. Prenger has coached Moeller cross country for 13 years and seemed excited for the start of the season. He couldn’t wait to kick it off.
Coach Dave Prenger
Picture taken by Nowell Snarey
First, and most obvious for any team, Mr. Prenger wants to win a state championship. Second, he wants every person on the program to better themselves. Whether it be improving their skills, or just being a better person. He strives for self-improvement, not just for his players but also himself.
He also spoke about some runners that are looking good this season. Specifically, he stated on varsity they are Jameson Maynes, Sebastian Rahe, Zachary Colbert, Eli Smiddy, Grant Prather, and Sam Cline.
From the Lebanon Running Warrior Invitational, Moeller had Jameson Maynes place 4th and Sebastian Rahe place 46th. Some noticeable underclassmen are Peter Bachman, Jake Karulf, Max Maney, Jacob Herzog, and Carson Todd. Peter Bachman placed 33rd and Jake Karulf placed 37th in the same race. Sadly, an important piece to this program, senior Alex Longwell, has been missing time due to a fracture in his foot.
Mr. Prenger wanted to lead this year’s team to win the state title, but he said they would have their fair share of challenges. In addition to injuries and a long, grueling season, Moeller has formiddable competition in its own GCL backyard. Lasalle, St. Xavier, and Elder all compete at an extremely high level.
Mr. Prenger talked about the importance of preparation before a meet and said, “There are so many variables that can impact your performance […] A lack of sleep, or dehydrated, or not properly eating and calories.” He said that even just these elements can affect your time which means a lot in cross country. He said, “Even just a 5% performance impact could easily be 65-70 seconds in a race, which a lot can happen in 65-70 seconds 5k race.”
You’d be surprised the team isn’t burnt out after all this running. Mr. Prenger stated that they run 9-10 miles on their “longer runs.”
Their next meet is this Saturday, September 25, 2021, at Elvin R King XC Course, Cedarville, Ohio. It is for the Midwest Catholic XC Championship