Malvern’s cross country team has had one of the best seasons in their long history.

A strong start to a strong season was almost dampened with an injury to Jaxson Hoey ‘16, but the team persevered. During the State Championship at Belmont Plateau, Malvern won over Germantown Friends, with a winning score of 53.

This season is but the icing on the cake for Coach Mike Koenig’s record. After running track at Notre Dame, Koenig took over as the coach at Malvern. He has had plenty of success since his arrival, including numerous Inter-Ac Championships.

This year, the team was lead by seniors Ryan Doane and Billy McDevitt, juniors Jaxson Hoey, Addison Mueller, and Colin Wills, and freshmen Pete Borger and Josh Hoey.

Winning is not exclusive to just Varsity, as the JV squad also had a successful year. A win at states and the Inter-Ac championship was led by freshman Danny Taylor, who won the entire Inter-Ac meet. Jimmy Dugan, Ryan Franks and Ryan Sutton, all sophomores, also had successful JV seasons.

There are two meets left in this season starting with regionals, which could possibly lead to a national appearance in Oregon. There is some concern about the upcoming meet because Jaxson Hoey ‘16 is not running due to an injury.

Hopefully, the team will be able to capitalize on the success they’ve had this season at the upcoming regional meet. As state champions, the Malvern team will certainly receive a favorable seeding at the regional meet. The team will have to persevere through injuries in order to continue to reach the standard of success they have set.

Jack Magargee ’18 also contributed to this story.