Jaden Koller

Greene County High School senior Jaden Koller is the lone senior on the boys’ cross-country team. It remains to be seen how he’ll perform in his final high school season of distance running on golf courses, school grounds, State parks, and other venues, but one thing is for sure, and that is he’s put the work in to get better.

Raccoon Valley Radio asked Koller what has led to his improvement and the answer was simply, “I put the miles in.” There are no shortcuts in cross-country running. It’s five kilometers (3.1 miles) and courses could be flat, hilly, winding through all types of terrain, and the weather will start off hot and humid most seasons and end up cold and windy, with some precipitation mixed in. Koller’s best time as a freshman was 22:37, then 21:28 his sophomore year. He shaved more than a minute off again as a junior, and who knows what his senior season times may be?

The Rams open the season on Aug. 28 at the Southeast Valley Coed Invitational on the golf course in Gowrie.