SMAC Running Club
Junior High/Middle School Cross Country and Track, Loveland, Ohio

Established 1993

Last Updated 01/20/2013 09:41 PM

The SMAC young men’s cross country team was started in the fall of 2006 by Coach Phil McDonald and assistant coach Randy Kuvin.  The goal has been to instill in our athletes a love of running and demonstrate to them that focus and consistent hard work will not only lead to success in cross country but in any endeavor they choose.

Throughout each season, the emphasis is on Christian sportsmanship, team cohesiveness, and the idea that every runner regardless of their ability is important to our team’s success.  The majority of our runners are students at St. Margaret of York and St. Columban Schools.  However we have had runners from St. Susanna, Good Shepherd, Loveland, Milford and Little Miami Schools.  They are 6^th thru 8^th grade students.  The majority of our competition is from much larger public schools, which we have been able to compete against with success.

Since the program’s inception, SMAC cross country has had many outstanding runners at the middle school level.  Most of our runners have continued to compete at the high school level at St. Xavier, Moeller, LaSalle, Little Miami and Loveland.  Up to now, our most outstanding runners on the high school level have been Jack Butler and Alex Kuvin.  Jack ran for St. Xavier, placing 24^th as a junior and 26^th as a senior at the Division 1 Ohio State Cross Country meet.  He went to Division II Hillsdale University on scholarship where he now competes.  Alex Kuvin was one of the top runners on the St. Xavier 2012 Ohio State Cross Country championship team.  He also helped St. Xavier to a 9^th place finish at Nike Cross Nationals.  He is also on a scholarship, running for the University of Dayton.

The first team had 14 runners.  The team’s performance was inconsistent; however it was able to peak for a 3^rd place finish at the All-City meet at Colerain High School.  Jack Butler was named the most valuable runner.

The team had 17 runners and demonstrated considerable improvement.  The team took first at the All-City meet after competing well throughout the season.  Clayton Cardinal was the most valuable runner.

The season began with 19 runners and the team was very competitive throughout the season.  They again won the All-City championship, with Austin Fry being named most valuable runner.  This was coach Randy Kuvin’s last season.  His contributions were invaluable to our success in the first three seasons.

This team again had 19 runners, who again ran a very successful season.  They won the All-City meet.  This was also the first year SMAC competed in the Ohio state middle school cross country championship in Columbus.  We placed second in Division II-III.  Nicolas Mendel was the most valuable runner.

The team consisted of 23 runners, our largest team to date.  Throughout the season we placed no lower than 4^th place at any of our meets.  We again won our All-City meet and placed 2^nd at the state meet.  Ian Thunhorst was the most valuable runner.

2011 was yet another good season for our 18 man team.  We won the Moeller, Loveland, and New Richmond Invitationals, plus a 5^th All-City championship.  We placed 6^th at the state meet, with Charlie Schultheis as most valuable runner.

This rendition of SMAC cross country included 14 young men.  We had some ups and downs, but finished strong.  We placed third at the Centerville meet and won the All-City championship for the 6^th year in a row, placing 5^th at the State Meet.  Andrew Luers was the most valuable runner.  In addition, this was Mark Holly’s first season as an assistant coach.

SMAC Running Club, Loveland, Ohio
Comprised of students from the schools of
St. Columban & St. Margaret of York
 and other parochial schools near Loveland, Ohio.

Comments or problems can be sent to Dave Prenger
This Web Site is Copyright 2007-2011 by SMAC Running Club
Unauthorized duplication of content within this web site is strictly prohibited.