There will be a new coach leading the Putnam County cross-country program this season, but the War Eagles have some familiar faces returning to help lead the way.
Andy Rewis takes over as the program’s head coach after serving as an assistant last season. Rewis previously spent eight years as the head coach at Jasper County and also has experience as an assistant coach with the Putnam County wrestling program.
Rewis was not named as coach until late June, so the War Eagles did not have much of an offseason training program.
“Our plan right now is to start our actual practice the first day when the students get back to school,” he said.
Putnam County had two full teams last season, and Rewis said he expects the War Eagles to have enough runners to field full boys and girls teams again this fall.
The boys team returns three of its top runners in seniors Elias Hernandez, Jamaiel McClendon, and Erin Butts. All three were juniors last season and were the War Eagles’ top three finishers at the region meet.
Putnam County finished fourth in the region last season, but the experience coming back has Rewis hopeful the War Eagles can move up the standings this year.
“I feel with the boys, we’ll have a little bit more experience, and I think they will continue to get better,” Rewis said. “I’m kind of hoping we’ll do a little bit better than fourth in the region this upcoming season.”
The girls team finished second in the region last season but needs to replace its top three runners. That group included Hannah Erickson, one of the program’s top runners throughout her career, who qualified for the state meet each season.
The next three finishers from last year’s team – sophomores Elizabeth Wells and Bethanee Vickery, and senior Emma Peters – are back, however, and expected to take on larger roles this season.
“We might be a little more inexperienced there,” Rewis said. “But last year they were a little more successful.”
The biggest focus early in the season will be on improvement, he added.
Rewis said he plans to establish each runner’s personal-best time once the team begins practicing and then work toward improving those times throughout the season. He believes the team will improve only if the runners continue to get better individually.
For the boys, Rewis said he would like to see five runners get around the 20-minute mark or faster in the 5K. On the girls' side, he is looking for five runners to reach the 25-to-27-minute range.
Putnam County assistant coach Michael Abney said he believes the program can attract a wide variety of students. Some runners may use cross country to help with conditioning for other sports, while others may be looking for their first opportunity to compete, he added.
“Cross country is one of those special sports that probably hits the most diverse population of the student body,” Abney said.
“You have some students who are using it as a jumping-off point for conditioning for soccer, or basketball, or wrestling, and you have some that are just out there, never done sports before, and they just want to kind of run.”
Abney is also hoping to get more soccer players involved with the team. Since GHSA rules limit when soccer teams can begin their season activities, cross country provides an opportunity for those athletes to continue working on their conditioning while also competing.
Both coaches said they’re also encouraged by the numbers coming through the middle school program. Abney said the middle school team had more than 20 runners last season, with several young runners having success in competition.