Mercer Cross Country’s New Coach Has Ambitious Plans
The Harrodsburg Herald/Wesley Bird
The 2022 Mercer cross country team: Head Coach Derek McIntyre, Sam Lewis, Mason Sanders, Anna Davis, Marshall Hart, Katie Lewis, Brady Howard, Adriana Polhemus, Karson Kerr, Landon Bryant and Assistant Coach Jamey Kerr.
Editor’s Note: This post has been edited to correct the spelling of Coach Derek McIntyre’s name.
Wesley Bird
Herald Staff
wesley@harrodsburgherald.com
The Mercer County cross country boys and girls teams are preparing for a big year under new Head Coach Derek McIntyre. With five returning members from last year’s teams including seniors Brady Howard and Clayra Darnell, junior Sam Lewis, and sophomores Mason Sanders and Marshall Hart.
This year’s boys varsity team has six members in total with Hart leading the way, building off his impressive 39th place finish at state last year. The Mercer boys team as a whole finished 21st at state with 550 points scored. The girls team is actually a team this year, with Darnell being joined by Anna Davis, Katie Lewis and Adriana Polhemus. Last year as the lone girl, Darnell finished 59 of 219 at the 2A State championship with a time of 21:54.
This year, the team and McIntyre have been preparing since dead period and have run more than they ever have.
“When I took over this program my plan was two part: to grow the program and win a state championship,” said McIntyre.
