The Brusly cross country team finished its first season since 1994 with a meet last weekend at The Church Academy.
Head track coach Trent Ellis spearheaded the movement to get the program reinstated after the 24-year hiatus.
Ellis said he pitched the idea three years ago when he returned to Brusly and he decided to take matters into his own hands and coach the team for free to make it happen.
“During the track season, I noticed we hadn’t had anyone in the 800-meter dash or above,” Ellis said. “We lost a state championship because we didn’t have anyone to run middle to long distance races.”
This year’s fledgling cross country team had six members: Jaselyn
Berthelot, Brooke Bourgoyne, Emily Neely, Amiya Reed, Aniyah Legarde and Ian Fant.
“I would say this year was a success,” Ellis said. “They improved their times in each meet we went to.”
In the meet at The Church Academy, Berthelot finished first in the 2-mile run with a time of 15:30.4.
Ellis said cross country benefits the athletic program at the school in a myriad of ways.
“It not only builds the track program for the spring, but it gives others another sport to participate in,” he said. “It’s a building block.”
