Eli Dickson has been progressively moving to the front of the line. Dickson, a sophomore, finished second for his cross country team Sept. 28 at the Solon meet. He finished eight overall with a time of 17:30.8.

Two weeks earlier, Dickson finished 10th overall in the MV-L Cross Country’s first win in Williamsburg on Sept 12. Dickson had a time of 17:49 and tied for second place with Carter Hall on the team coming down to the last decimal. Dickson said, “It was neck and neck, we finished at the exact same time,” a rare occurrence to tie with a teammate in cross country.

Dickson said that Zach Fall and Quincy Happel challenge him the most on the team. Dickson said, “Zach is the number one runner and Quincy is number three, so they’re the closest to me when it comes to finishing on the team, so it pushes me.”

It’s hard to bring up fall sports in 2020 without talking about the ongoing pandemic. Dickson knew he had to follow the social distancing guidelines but he still wanted to train with his teammates. Dickson said, “We still wanted to have good team chemistry, so the starting seven lineup would go on runs together during quarantine.”

Dickson has goals for this year after coming off a spectacular freshman year, he only plans on improving. Dickson said, “ I would be happy with any time under 17:00.”

The Mount Vernon-Lisbon Cross Country team races next at West Delaware on Tuesday at Hart Ridge Golf Course in Manchester. The varsity boys race begins at 4:45.