A year ago, there was no cross country team for the high schoolers at St. Mary’s Catholic School.
This year, there was a girls team of five and one boys runner. The Ram and five Lady Rams competed in last week’s Texas Christian Athletic Fellowship state meet in Boyd and came home with some hardware.
The Lady Rams finished second in the team standings with sophomore Julia Heyl taking fifth individually and senior Malerie Mokry finishing 10th. Freshman Nicholas Jessup took 10th in the boys’ race.
“It’s been awesome. They show up and put in the effort,” said Christy Decker, St. Mary’s Head Coach. “It’s great to watch them progress throughout the season.”
The girls’ race was 3,200 meters – or two miles – and the boys’ race was 5,000 meters (3.1 miles). In TCAF, girls must finish a qualifying race in 30 minutes or less to qualify for the state meet, while qualifying boys must complete a race in 33 minutes or less.
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but after our coach how big of a deal it was, I’m happy that we brought this trophy home,” said sophomore Odette Moehle.
Moehle and Heyl are sophomores, while Malerie Mokry is a senior. Faith Decker and Olivia Mokry are juniors.
Decker, the daughter of the head coach, competed in cross country for the first time this season. However, she didn’t do it because of her mother.
“My friends convinced me to do it,” Faith Decker said. “This is the highest I’ve ever finished in a state competition.”
Heyl, who competed in cross country in middle school, was happy to be “on the run” again this season. Like her peers, Heyl also is involved in other activities.
“I did cross country in middle school, but this is my first year to do it in high school because we didn’t have a cross country team last year,” Heyl said. “I’m also in volleyball and cheer. I love cheer because I’ve been doing it most of my life. I love tumbling and stunting.” Like Heyl, Malerie Mokry did cross country every year she was eligible except last year. She was happy to be able to run again as a senior.
“It was a great opportunity to get back into it and I’m very grateful that I got to do this with the rest of my teammates,” Malerie said.
Malerie also is a cheerleader and would like to cheer or run cross country in college. She has a list of schools she’s interested in attending.
“I’m looking at attending Texas A&M in College Station, Texas State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and University of Texas-Tyler,” Malerie said.
Olivia Mokry, like her sister, was thrilled to run cross country this year. Aside from school, running is all she likes to do.
“I really liked doing this with my sister, especially since this was her last year,” Olivia said. “I just focus on cross country and school. I feel like running is easy and you have to stay disciplined. It helps me clear my head and gives me a good mental state.”
Chances are Heyl, Moehle, Faith Decker and Olivia Mokry will return next season.
“I plan on doing cross country next year,” Moehle said. “It’s one foot in front of the other. It’s just me and God (on the course).”
Jessup also plans on having company next year. He talked about his experience as the lone Ram on the course.
“During the race, I was the only one there (from St. Mary’s). It was kind of intimidating because the other schools have more than one runner,” Jessup said. “I try to get in the top 10. I hope to improve my time and maybe win the whole thing in the next three years.”
Christy Decker plans on having not just a complete girls team in 2026, but also a complete boys team. She also enjoys working with her assistant coaches Raoul Bason and Ryan Cavender.
“I have zero doubt that we’ll get first as long as I have (my assistants) because we’ll start earlier coaching,” Decker said. “I also think the runners talking to their classmates and winning awards will increase participation.”
