MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — For the first time since the 1970s, Walters State Community College will participate in a cross country race this weekend, and for the Lady Senators, it will be the first event in the school's history when they compete at Panther Creek State Park on Saturday to begin the cross country era at the college.
Walters State head coach Raymond Farmer and assistant coach David Haas will lead the Senators and Lady Senators in this new venture, as the local duo moved on from Morristown West High School and West View Middle School, respectively, to forge a union at the collegiate level, fulfilling a long-kept promise to one another about coaching together at the next level.
Farmer is a results-backed cross country guru who helped lead West to several state championships during his pre coaching career, and Haas led the West View program to unparalleled success in the middle school ranks. With Walters State bringing cross country program back for the first time in nearly 50 years, the duo was a logical choice to resurrect the sport.
The Senators and Lady Senators will toe the line Saturday in a dual meet in conjunction with the prep and middle school Panther Creek Invitational meet, and Farmer is excited to get the new season underway.
"I'm excited to get this first meet under our belt and see what we can do in the following weeks," Farmer said. "Our first race, which is a dual, I think will be challenging. It will give us an idea of what to expect from the competition at the junior college level. I think this program has a bright future ahead of it, and we are taking stepping stones to a bigger and better place right now."
With the unrivaled success each athletic program at Walters State has had, not only at the TCCAA level but on the national landscape, Farmer admitted there is a bit of intimidation entering the new position to bring success quickly, but he's got other goals in mind as well.
"It's a little intimidating considering all the giants who are here (in the athletic department)," Farmer said. "But my goal will be to help the kids progress and get the most out of their abilities and hopefully find them somewhere to go when their time at Walters State is over.
"We're getting everything these kids have to offer right now. We will see as the season progresses how much more they have in them and what we haven't tapped yet."
The roster for Farmer and Haas this season consists of all locally recruited talent, with six of the dozen runners hailing from Morristown and the other six residing in surrounding counties.
For the men, the roster will be comprised of Morristown East's Christopher Gaby, Morristown West's Nicholas Noble, Washburn's Austin Coffman, Cocke County's Kevin Perez Padilla, Clinton's Jacob Manning and Seymour's Chance Collins, the only sophomore for the Senators.
For the women, three runners from Morristown West are on the roster, as Jade Mattison, Karli Yarid and Daniela Medina will join Morristown East's Shyanne McKinney, Jefferson County's Lindsey Seagle and Washburn's Breanna Scearce. Yarid and Seagle are the two sophomores for the Lady Senators.
"I do like the kids from this area, and I think you will find looking at different parts of the state, East Tennessee tends to offer a higher quality cross country athlete," Farmer said. "The potential for this team is still uncertain. We need to get a meet under our belt and see what happens. I feel there are a lot of great possibilities for us if we can stay healthy."
Following Saturday's race at Panther Creek State Park, Walters State will compete in four other regular season events. The second race will be on Friday, Sept. 6, at Holston Home in Greeneville, followed by the Eye Opener in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Friday, Sept. 13, a race at Maryville on Friday, Sept. 27, and a spot in the Berry College Invitational at Rome, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 19.
"We're definitely looking to grow the team, grow the program, and we will take some baby steps at first because we want to try and earn success," Farmer said. "There will be some hurdles in our way, which is to be expected with a startup program, but we want to minimize those and have as much success as we can."
The NJCAA National Championships will be held on Saturday, Nov. 9, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.