At DistancePreps.com our motto is "The Future Runs Now."  To help celebrate the 2013 XC season, we are now 9 weeks into and nearing the end of the regular season highlighting our future stars and dedicated young runners as "Frosh of the Week".

Maura "Rosie" Poling, Lely (3A District 12 18:57.43)

Rosie Poling is our Girls "Frosh of the Week".

Rosie, as she likes to be called, has seen consistent progression throughout the season.  She's no stranger to racing or training either and that experience showed this past week at the 3A District 12 meet where she place 3rd overall.  A consistent season so far has Rosie and her Lely team ready to tackle the course at Sydney Downs for the 3A Region 3 meet.

Coach McGarity from Lely writes, "Rosie Poling came to Lely High School from Marco Island Charter School where she had a great Middle School career. She ran her last Middle School race at the Middle School State Meet with a 5^th place finish. Rosie lead the race till the end and about 10 seconds separated everyone at the finish. Rosie has been very excited about running at Lely High and keeps pushing to run personal records. She has ran so well this season that she has set a new school record at the District Meet.  Rosie is not only a competitor, but a great team member and supports her teammates with great enthusiasm. The next few weeks will be very exciting and Rosie and the Girls are very excited about the possibilities. Run Rosie Run!

Austin Camps, West Shore Jr/Sr High School (2A District 13 16:25)

Austin Camps is our Boys "Frosh of the Week".

We first really noticed Austin at the Holy Trinity Fall Classic 2 weeks ago where he was finished 6th overall.  Not too bad for a freshman right.  But even   more surprisingly, he had 3 other freshman in front of him. What's a guy supposed to do?  Well, it just so happens that the freshman class, especially on the eastern seaboard, are off to an extremely fast start.  It's definitely out of the ordinary for a freshman to consistently lead their high school team in the results and on the course or trail, but that's where Austin has found himself. 

Every one of those freshman in front of Austin,  has also been honored this XC season as "Frosh of the Week" so in a way it was only fitting that Austin's 4th place finish and post-race interview caught our attention even more, following the 2A District 13 Meet last Saturday.  As it turns out, Austin is on his way to the State Meet after finishing 13th overall in the 2A Regional meet.  Austin is Tally bound.

Coach Hayes,  West Shore High School

"Austin is such a pleasure to coach and I am extremely proud of what he has accomplished his freshman year at West Shore.  Austin has been an instrumental member of the varsity cross country team since 7th grade and really stepped up his game this season as the leader of a young, energetic team.  His enthusiasm, confidence and love for the sport continues to grow leaps and bounds which is paying off not only for himself, but for the entire team.   He is the ultimate team player who wants nothing more than for the team to succeed.  He leads by example pushing himself at practice which drives his teammates to work just as hard resulting in a team average of 18:52 at the beginning of the season to a team average of 17:36 at the FHSAA 2A District 13 meet this past Saturday.  Austin set a school record with a personal best time of 16:25 at Districts which was 25 seconds faster than his previous best time set a week ago at Holy Trinity.  His fourth place finish along with his teammates all running personal bests has kept his desire for the team to succeed as they have advanced to Regionals.   As a coach, I can't ask for a better runner to help lead this team.  Austin's future is definitely bright!"

There are many factors that come into play when determining the "Frosh of the Week", including; time, place, rank against other freshmen, and overall impact they have on their team. We will not highlight the same Frosh more than once and the honors are purely subjective. If you wish to nominate your athlete for "Frosh of the Week" e-mail us at [email protected] with their name and why they are deserving of the honor.

See all our Freshmen of the Week honorees