John Koonce took over the cross country program at El Dorado in 2017 with a goal of building strong teams for boys and girls. The depth for the Wildcats showed steady growth but for the Lady Wildcats, not so much.
Before this year, El Dorado had not fielded a complete senior high girls team for an entire season since 2020. In 2021 and 2023, the Lady Wildcats competed as a team at the end of the year after moving up girls from junior high.
The numbers were low for various reasons, including three potential standouts who moved away. Another retired from the sport due to injury.
This season, the Lady Wildcats not only have a full senior high squad of runners but they’re running at the front of the pack. El Dorado won a senior girls cross country meet this year for the first time since Koonce took over and, probably, the first time in school history.
Actually, the Lady Wildcats have won three meet championships this season and finished second in the Lakeside Invitational.
Koonce said he felt it coming.
“It’s not a surprise just because I knew this group of girls was bought in last year,” he said. “Obviously the addition of Jazmine isn’t something that we could’ve predicted but we are certainly happy that she is with us.”
Freshman Jazmine Aguirre moved to El Dorado from Van Buren and established herself as the team’s top runner. Returning from last year are Ainsley Colvin, Corin Melear and Nadalee Pumphrey, who join a talented group of sophomores for a solid roster.
“The girls team has been good all year but the goal now is to drop that average team time another 15-30 seconds,” said Koonce. “As for the future, everyone is an underclassmen so when the season is over we will discuss with the girls how they can take the next step.
“I think the sky's the limit with this group.”
El Dorado runs again on Oct. 29 at the 5A South Meet in Hot Springs.