After graduating its sole state qualifier Tyler Clippard last season, the Park Hill South boys’ cross-country team will look to his younger brother for guidance this fall.
Tanner Clippard, a junior, has the early edge of being the Panthers’ number one runner when the season begins. Clippard’s biggest competition so far is freshman Thomas Garrett.
“Tanner was my number two or three guy last year and then he had a little bit of a hip injury so he kind of got held back in districts, but he trained hard and has been consistent this summer,” Park Hill South boys’ cross-country coach Alan Roth said. “Thomas had a good track season in eighth grade, and he’s looking strong so far. I think they will be fighting for the top spot and will be flipping back and forth.”
Park Hill South is down on numbers this year, with only 28 boys on its team. Sophomore Zach Hilzinger and freshman Grant Windmeyer are looking to crack the top-7.
Park Hill South has ten seniors this season, with Timmy Tasler being the top one in the class. Trevor Owens and Ben Kizer ran at districts last fall and are a couple of runners who can round out the Panthers’ top-7.
“A goal is that I always want to get some guys to the state meet, but really our goal this year is to focus on the athletes and them improving. Because our team is so young, experience wise when it comes to the varsity level teams, just showing them the progression and success,” Roth said.
Roth told the Platte County Citizen that the Panthers are young this year and his main focus is to make the young guys buy into the process. Park Hill South is aiming for a top-10 finish at districts as a team.
“I personally think that if Tanner and Thomas run smart and everything goes according to plan, they have a good possibility of going to the state meet. I’m not quite sure if the other kids are able to make that jump,” Roth said.