The Mehlville High girls cross country squad is ‘looking really strong’ heading into the season and looking for a breakout year, head coach Erin Rekosh said.

By STEPHEN GLOVER
For the Call

The Mehlville High School girls cross country team is looking to make 2019 a breakout season.

“We’re going to have a strong girls varsity team this year,” Mehlville head coach Erin Rekosh said. “We’ve got a good, strong core of veteran runners, and they’re doing such a great job mentoring our newer runners.”

Rekosh is looking for the Panthers to be stronger not only in numbers, but also in overall strength for each runner.

“We’re really working on increasing muscle and making us stronger,” Rekosh said. “I’m hoping for us to see some big jumps this year.”

Seniors Emma Hubbell and Emily Pesselato return to the Panthers’ lineup for the 2019 season after qualifying for last year’s Missouri Class 4 state sectional.

Pesselato will serve as one of the co-captains along with senior Jenna Lowrey.

“Emily is a wonderful leader that’s organized and leads by example as a good student,” Rekosh said. “Jenna is kind of the mama bear of the group and team cheerleader.”

Another senior that will factor heavily into the Panther lineup is Missy Hanak.

Two juniors that feature in the starting six are Abbi Riek and Ena Gracanin: “Abbi is a very good soccer player and an amazing runner who runs her heart out” and Ena is a “naturally gifted athlete.”