Top-level talent, abundance of enthusiasm for running gives Blue Devils boost

QUINCY — Anna Schuering’s goals are bigger and broader than fast times and top places.

She wants the next evolution of cross country runners at Quincy High School to understand the sport isn’t solely about speed and endurance. Its enjoyment revolves around a desire to compete, a work ethic that doesn’t quit and a team you learn to call family.

“I want to see my senior year as an opportunity to lead other people to work their hardest and accomplish what they themselves can accomplish,” said Schuering, a QHS senior who owns the second-fastest time in program history for a 3-mile race. “That’s what my goal is. 

“I want to run good times and place well and all of those things are important. But I think showing other people that running is fun and you can enjoy running and enjoy competing at whatever level you’re comfortable with is important, too.”

The “this is fun” vibe emanating from the Blue Devils is part of the reason both the boys and girls teams are set up for success this fall.

Having a wealth of talent helps, too.

QHS returns two of the most accomplished runners in either program’s history in Schuering and senior Fiker Rosen, a front-of-the-pack mainstay for the QHS boys since joining the program as a freshman. Rosen is a three-time individual Western Big 6 Conference champion, while Schuering is the defending girls champion.

When you throw senior Ayden Triplett and junior Eric McClelland into the lead pack with Rosen and Alexandria Meyers and Liv Schuering — Anna’s younger sister — into the girls mix as well, both teams appear to have the front-end talent to fight for a state tournament berth this season.

“That would be something incredible,” Triplett said of running Detweiler Park in Peoria — the site of the state meet — in early November.

He wants everyone to be there, not just Rosen, himself or a handful of qualifiers.

“I like to think we all have the same goal of trying to win races and have a good time,” Triplett said. “Overall, it’s a team sport. Everyone’s place matters. That’s how you get your points. I think of it as a team. I don’t really try to focus on my personal performance. I obviously like to do well, but I’d rather see our team do well.”

In a sport where you can feel isolated and alone if you pull ahead of the pack or happen to fall alive, the team aspect is strong.

“We can’t be where we’re at without our teammates,” McClelland said. 

Despite their different running styles and approaches, they always push each other.

“When we all run together, it’s more fun because we all push each other,” Meyers said. “Running helps pull us together.”

A coaching change hasn’t changed that.

Matt McClelland resigned in the spring to become the school’s athletic director. Eric Davis, an assistant coach who ran at QHS in the mid-1990s, took over and the transition has been relatively seamless.

“Matt McClelland left the program in a great position,” Davis said. “We’re going to roll with the momentum he got going.”

He’ll inject as much competitive fire as possible, too.

“The runners bring a fired-up mentality that I’ve tried to instill in them that comes from my high school coaches (former QHS coaches Ty Wolf and Kerry Anders),” Davis said. “That includes hard work and being smart about your training. When you get to the start line, it brings a lot of confidence you can race with anybody. When you have the team racing together, you can do well.”

Racing together means training together and looking out for each other away from the course.

“You have to make sure you’re being healthy for yourself and healthy for your teammates,” McClelland said.

What the upperclassmen know and the underclassmen will learn is they are in this together. The bevy of freshmen who have joined the program — they are 41 total runners, a sizable increase from the 24 the Blue Devils had last season — can take advice from those seniors, too.

“Work hard and start early,” Triplett said. “The earlier you start and the more you run, the easier it becomes. And have fun. That’s what it’s really about.”