DEC. 6, 2012 - LOOKING FORWARD

                  Hey guys! Welcome back to the final entry of the 2012 cross country season! This entry will cover a couple athletes that will help build the future of our cross country program. I hope you have enjoyed following Jake and I as our season went on this year. We really enjoyed writing the blog and we want to thank our readers for their great questions!

                  So this cross country season has been over for a bit now. We are pleased to announce the signings of two marquee athletes both from this area that will be joining the team next year. I believe goleafs.net has already profiled one of them, but that's ok.  These two athletes are Ryan Smith of Central Noble High School and Luke Kauffman of Goshen High School.

                  Both of these athletes were strong leaders for their teams all season. Ryan Smith, being on a small team, had the privilege of running a lot of races really on his own. He won a handful of races his senior year and raced his way all the way to the state meet as an individual. In high school, an athlete has to place in the top 15 in each race leading up to state (sectional, regional, semi-state) to advance. Individuals that accomplish that are few and far in between. Ryan has a strong work ethic that will fit right in to the Goshen College team. We are very excited to have him, and I can't wait to start logging in those miles with him!

                  Luke Kauffman on the other hand, had a different experience. Goshen High School had a very strong cross country team this season. Goshen cross country had one of the top 3 teams in the area, one being Warsaw high school that was ranked top 5 in the whole state all year. Luke definitely had the ability to go through the postseason as an individual, but didn't have too. Luke's team was able to get in the top 5 as a team at the sectional and regional level and top 6 at the semi-state level to advance to state as a team! It is a long tough road, and Goshen was able to pull through and make it to state! Luke will hopefully bring his success over to our squad to make us even better! He will be a great kid to have around and make a strong impact on the team.

                  Right now during the off-season for the athletes that are here now, we have track and field! Most guys on the team are running track so everyone is slowly starting to get back into running again. After Christmas break indoor track season gets underway! I will be departing for SST so I will miss a huge chuck of the season, but that's ok! I am very excited to see what our athletes can do, especially after yet another good cross country season!

                  Keep taps on all sports Goshen College related right here on goleafs.net, and continue to come out and support your leafs!

Godspeed,

Andrew Witkowski