Seymour girls cross country runners, from left, Vivienne Siefker and Jenifer Hankins are the only seniors for the Owls.
Dakota Locker | The Tribune
The Seymour Owls girls cross country team prepares for its 2023 season beginning in just eight days.
The team has been practicing the past few weeks to get ready for its first meet Aug. 17.
The girls will host their only home meet of the whole season.
The competition will start at 5:30 p.m. at the Freeman Field Recreational Complex.
The 2023 Owls consist of 12 girls, two seniors, four juniors and six sophomores.
Seymour head coach Spencer Sunbury spoke about his roster and his two seniors in Vivienne Siefker and Jenifer Hankins.
“Our two seniors will be leaders for us this season,” he said. “Both of them have run all four seasons for us. All of the girls work hard and have good chemistry with each other. This year, we will also return a lot of talented sophomores and juniors. It’s going to be exciting to see all of them grow, and I know they are excited to improve, as well.”
Along with Siefker and Hankins, 10 other Owls will be running for Seymour this season. The four junior runners are Gracie Adams, Alma Leal Delfin, Lucy Williams and Brylee Ramsey.
The sophomore group features Genesis Zarate Bello, Alexis Stuckwisch, AnnMarie Shuler, Lyndsey Greenawalt, Lauren Dowell and Kelly Beavers.
Sunbury has been coaching the Owls for more than 20 years, entering his 21st season as head coach.
He spoke about what must happen for the girls to have a successful season.
“We’ve really talked a lot about being accountable to ourselves,” Sunbury said. “We always talk about the girls trusting themselves as long as they continue to believe in themselves. I think we will see a big improvement.”
The coach was then asked about some goals for the girls in the upcoming season.
“Ultimately, every year, we throw the goal out there of making it to state. It’s not always a truly realistic goal, but it’s in our girls’ minds. Our goal has been to make it to semistate, and we’ve also spoken about taking each meeting one at a time,” he said.
“Sectional and regional will be a tougher path this year, in my opinion. I think a strong finish at a regional would be a very successful season for us. The goal is for the girls to not have any doubt or regret about leaving everything they have on the course. They need to leave it all out there.”