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By Andrew White | Staff Writer

Middle school volleyball coach and ninth and tenth grade history teacher, Stephanie Boyd, takes on starting the first cross country team in the Chilton County school district. Boyd started working at Jemison High School in November. Within her first couple of weeks working there she started asking the principal about starting a cross country program.

“This is kind of a huge milestone not just for Jemison but for the school district,” said Boyd. 

Boyd fell in love with long distance running at her previous school. She was friends with another teacher who would run marathons. 

“I was like so impressed with the ability of a human being to run 26 miles,” said Boyd. 

Boyd soon started to grow passionate about long distance running. When she came to Jemison, she realized many students did not even know what cross country was. 

“A lot of these kids want to be involved in something, but they don’t want to swing a bat or dribble a ball,” said Boyd. “They just want to be active and run.”

Boyd instantly saw interest. At the cross country’s first interest meeting they had 30 people sign up. The team currently rosters 18 runners. 

Boyd structures the practice plan around how she got herself into distance running as well as the research she has done in preparation for coaching this team. 

The program currently is still working on getting fully funded for the following season. It currently has enough funding for around half of its season. Due to the school’s inability to host a match, it has a hard time generating funding. However, after this season, the organizers of the Chilton County Strawberry Festival have agreed to let them bring back the Strawberry Run which should help fund seasons in the future. You can donate to the program by sending money to the school addressed to the cross country program. 

The runners that have already impressed Boyd are Noah Szymula and Kielyne Palacios. Boyd hopes that within the program’s first couple of years that it can have runners compete in the State Championship Meets. 

The team roster includes:

• Jailah Roscoe (Fr.)
• Kielyne Palacios (Fr.)
• Georgia Delaney (Fr.)
• Misty Ramirez-Guadarrama (Fr.)
• Ashley Romero (So.)
• Emely Molina  (So.)
• Marilyn Sanchez (So.)
• Leslie Sanches-Patino (So.)
• Samantha Galvez-Gonzalez (So.)
• Alexis Shaw (So.)
• Kailey Caballero (Jr.)
• JayLee Chamblee (Jr.)
• Yisel Flores (Jr.)
• Kristel Bravo (Sr.)
• Fabian Revera (Sr.)
• Melesio Amezcua (Sr.)
• Noah Szymula (Sr.)
• Coral Jarill (Sr.)
• Trinity Bean (Sr.)