WAITSBURG – In spite of a miniscule turn-out, the Waitsburg School Board voted to retain the district's cross-country program in hopes that numbers will increase in 2018-19 when Waitsburg will participate in a full athletic combine agreement with Dayton High School.

"This is really that gap year. We don't know what's to come. It would be a shame to eliminate the program. Looking at past practice, if it goes away, it's going away for good," said district superintendent Jon Mishra.

The exit of five graduated seniors in 2016 left a gaping hole in what has been a successful program with small, but stable numbers. Last fall, under the oversight of Coach Ann Adams and Assistant Coach Lanny Adams, seniors Emily Adams, Landon Callas, and Skylar Wood all qualified for the state cross country meet. Adams placed with a medal finish, taking sixth at state while Callas placed 19th out of 155 runners. Wood came in 56th.

This year, returning juniors Tom House and Daltin Lambert wish to continue their cross country careers and one eighth grader has expressed interest in running with the team this season.

Waitsburg Athletic Director Stephanie Wooderchak said that Ann Adams is willing to coach again, though she had some concerns about already having missed work due to recent shoulder surgeries. Wooderchak reported that there would be minimal impact on area schools if Waitsburg did not run a program this year.

She also recalled the case of a student that wanted to play golf, which wasn't offered in Waitsburg. The district was able to work with DeSales and WIAA to allow the student to play at DeSales, but under Waitsburg colors and mascot. The expenses of getting to practices and tournament was the financial responsibility of the parents, she said.

Wooderchak said eighth grade students may practice with the team, but can't participate in high school meets, which is no fun for the students. She said they can't be "called up" as they can in other sports when teams are short players because there is no minimum number required to field a cross-country team.

Wooderchak said Dayton students have been invited to participate several times, but no one has expressed interest so far.

"Do we think that might change if we went to a full combine where it's part of the program offering and maybe we will generate more interest in coming years? If this is a blip for a low. Do we want to stop this program completely now and maybe it doesn't ever get started again, or do we keep it alive during this lull until there is interest regenerated through the benefits of a combine and we end up having a half-dozen, eight, ten runners again, and the program's continuity isn't lost?" said board chair Ross Hamann.

"I would be willing to support riding out a lull for a year if we saw some hope that it could be a viable program again," he added.

Board member Randy Pearson agreed. "I think it's worthwhile enough to support for one more year before we give up on it," he said.

The board voted unanimously to retain the cross country program through 2017-18 and see where numbers fall next year. Board member Christy House, who has a son in the program, abstained from voting.

"We'll give the coach and students a challenge to double or triple the number this year," Hamann said.

Wooderchak told The Times that the cost to run the program, factoring in coach stipend, travel expenses, uniforms, and miscellaneous expenses is approximately $5,000 per season.