WP Cross Country Awards

WAITSBURG - In her 10th year coaching cross country for Waitsburg- Prescott, Joanna Lanning said this year's hardworking, tight-knit, and enthusiastic team members made 2013 her "most enjoyable year yet." Following a potluck dinner in the Waitsburg El­ementary School multipur­pose room, team members and parents watched a video recap of the year.

Lanning praised the members of the group for their hard work and con­gratulated the team for their community service project in which they raised ap­proximately $300 from the sale of wristbands for the St. Mary's Special Needs Fund. Lanning commented that the seven team members (in­cluding junior high runner, Tom House) were so close and "held each other in such high regard" that every per­son got votes for the team- voted awards.

In team-voted awards Most Improved went to Sky­lar Wood for "consistently setting new goals and meet­ing them." Emily Adams dedication and persistence earned her Most Inspira­tional, and E.J. Meserve re­ceived a unanimous vote for Most Valuable Player. Lanning choked up as she spoke of her last year coach­ing Meserve in X-C, proudly noting that he qualified for State all four years and im­proved his time and place­ment in each of those years. Meserve placed 95th in his freshman year with a 5,000 meter time of 19:41and fin­ished his senior year in 29th place with a time of 17:38.

Lanning awarded the Coach's Award to Kyle Gradwohl for his hard work and perseverance. Lanning said that Gradwohl realized early in the season he was at a disadvantage after not run­ning through the summer, and has already made a plan to prepare himself for the 2014 season.

In addition to a successful year on the course, the team received two awards for scholastic excellence. The Distinguished Scholastic Award is earned by teams with a team GPA of 3.0 - 3.49 and the Outstanding Scholastic Award is earned by teams with a group GPA of 3.5 or higher. The WP team received both awards with a combined GPA of 3.6.