McNick, Turpin, Anderson cross country back

Mark Chalifoux
mchalifoux@communitypress.com
August 10, 2009

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Turpin

The Turpin High School girls' cross country team graduated two of the program's more reliable threats in 2008 and will have to replace the standouts with newcomers Adrienne Grogan, Brittney Newell and Carmen Versoza.

Turpin returns Jillian Jaworek, Megan Plichta, Alexia Yun and juniors Lauren Keene and Cassie Bacon, who all should do big things for the Spartans.

"We only lost two girls from last year's team and we have a lot of new help from the track team," fourth-year head coach Melissa Siemers said. "The dynamic on the team has changed a bit, but we still have a good shot at a successful season."

The team finished second in the league and sixth in the region in 2008.

The Turpin boys' cross country team returns FAVC Cardinal Runner of the Year and 2008 state qualifier Nicholas El-Khoury. Along with El-Khoury, seniors Dave Rodriguez, Jon Risher, and Alex Polivka return to the Spartans squad.

Junior Joe Murray is another returning runner and sophomore Antony Parnigoni has been an early standout for Turpin. Other sophomores running well are Spencer Llyod, Jake Tracy and Sean Kennedy. New runners performing well include Connor Twele, RJ Rokosz, Peter Franz, Sean Molloy and Ian Bentley.

Returning runners who are looking to contend for a varsity spot are Scott Wenderoth, Adam Galloway, Trace Zemites, Bryan Morton and Paul Rodriguez.

The boys' team has the highest turnout in program history with 34 boys on the roster, and head coach Jim Gossett said Turpin should be a contender for a fourth consecutive FAVC title. He said the team has 20 runners who could potentially be in the top seven.

"That should propel us to having a very respectable ranking in the city by the end of the season," he said.