PIQUA – The Greenville Middle School Cross Country teams capped off an impressive 2024 season, with the boys’ team placing first at the MVL Championship Meet at Piqua. Five of the boys finished in the top 11 spots, and the girls’ squad finished second overall under the direction of Greenville Middle School coach Dennis Eckstein.
CT McRill placed first overall on the two-mile course with a winning time of 11:12. McRill not only won the race but set a new Greenville Middle School record. The following four finishers for the Green Wave included Oliver Weaver, finishing in fourth place, Conner Price in fifth, Ryan Rosinski in seventh, and Brady Hartle, finishing 11th.
All five Greenville boys finished with times under twelve minutes. Last year four of these five boys competed at MVL as seventh graders on a team that placed second in the MVL.
“Their goal this entire season has been to win the title as eighth graders,” said Eckstein. “This was their ninth race of the season and fifth overall victory in those nine races.”
“As a coach, I could not be more pleased with the results for this team,” Eckstein added. “They have worked hard day in and day out during practice and the results showed today, ecstatically happy for them.
The Lady Wave Middle School runners earned a second-place finish, falling to Piqua while edging out Troy by one point to return home as MVL Runner-Up. Greenville had four girls who finished in the top eleven.
Kinsey Fiora placed fourth in a new school record time of 12:48. She was followed by Greenville’s Lydia Force with a seventh-place finish, Callie Marker placed 10th, and Akisha Abarquez finished 11th overall. Josilyn McMullen, a two-sport athlete, was the fifth Wave runner to cross the line, placing 38th in the run, which was her season’s best time.
“Very happy for these young ladies,” said Coach Eckstein. “We knew coming in that Piqua had four girls who would most likely separate them from the rest of the league, but second place was up for grabs between us, Troy and Tipp City. I can’t say enough about their effort. They all dug a little deeper today to finish just that one spot higher that earned them the runner-up title.
“In our pre-race huddles today, we discussed the term Carpe Diem,” he added. “Both teams took it as their ‘Rally Cry’ and proceeded to Seize the Day.”
Greenville head varsity cross-country coach Stephanie Lind heads up the Green Wave XC program.
