Fall sports: Top-ranked Pekin girls after another title

Conference championships, regional championships, state championships.

The Pekin girls? cross-country team has done it all over the past few years, but don?t think they?re ready to call it quits.

The Panthers were the Class 1A state champs in 2008, settled for second in Class 2A in 2009 and won another crown in Class 1A last fall. Now with six of seven runners returning from last year?s squad, it doesn?t take much to figure out Pekin is primed for yet another run.

Accordingly, the Panthers top the Class 1A preseason girls? rankings ? just as they did last year at this time.

Senior twins Celsey and Brenna Conger have been at the heart of Pekin?s four-year stretch of success and are back for one more go-round. Maleah Earnest, Samantha Wright, Hannah Robison and Brandy Millikin were all in the state meet lineup and come back strong in 2011.

Sixth-place individual finisher Kaitlin Spilman is the only graduation loss from that winning team, but a deep group behind her is more than ready to jump in. The program now features plenty of experience and a handful of newcomers ready to make an impact on varsity.

?Besides [Kaitlin?s] top finishes, we will also miss her leadership ability. But right now we have four more girls who are ready to step in and be a force,? said head coach Davis Eidahl.

Freshman McKenna Gambell, senior Kayla Chandler ? who ran on the 2008 state championship team ? and juniors Monica Cooley and Victoria Eckley will all be fighting for a spot in the lineup. Cooley and Eckley already have some experience and put together terrific seasons on the track as sophomores.

Building a program like this hasn?t been an accident for Eidahl, who is coming up on 50 years of coaching experience and was awarded a National Cross Country Coach of the Year honor this spring.

That coaching savvy produced a perfect peak last fall, and it?ll be something he aims for again in 2011.

?We will be slow in starting again this year, so don?t look for us to be a power right away,? Eidahl said about his top-ranked team. ?We will take it slow and start to peak around the end of September. This is what we did last year, and it seemed to work well.?

Eidahl is also head of the boys? team, and can look forward to one of the deeper squads he has had in recent memory. Although state qualifier Phillip Laux has been lost to transfer, a number of runners may be able to replace those points.

?It could be one of the better team we?ve had in the past several years, and our boys should be able to run in a pack in meets,? said Eidahl.

Aaron King, Colton Dunning, Tim Murray and Cade Millikin have been the top four runners in preseason practices and should continue to be when the meet schedule begins.

Stratton Bond, Austin Bennet and Chase Earnest also bring varsity running experience and should be back in the mix over the next few months. Clayton Essary, Chirstian Little, Joey House and Dustin Lanman could also make an impact and may be moving up the line. The Panthers will do what they can to join the girls? squad for a trip to the state meet in late October.

Pekin will host the season-opening meet at Wildwood Park in Ottumwa Sept. 1 and host another meet at Lake Keomah near Oskaloosa Sept. 6.