Renee McCosh and Marshall's First Girls' Cross Country Team
Marshall High School didn't have a girls' cross country team until the fall of 1983. Renee "Bonnie" McCosh didn't wait for one. She ran four seasons for coach Barney Roy, the first three as one of only a few girls training and racing alongside the boys' program.
Featured photo: Marshall's first girls' cross country team, fall 1983. The Dial (Marshall High School yearbook), 1984, via Marshall District Library.
Marshall High School didn't have a girls' cross country team until the fall of 1983. Renee "Bonnie" McCosh didn't wait for one. She ran four seasons for coach Barney Roy, the first three as one of only a few girls training and racing alongside the boys' program. In 1981 she reached the state finals in the same season the Marshall boys won the Class B state title. As a senior she helped launch the school's first full girls' team.
Photo: Renee McCosh, class of 1984. The Dial (Marshall High School yearbook), 1984, via Marshall District Library.
Four seasons, one trail
1980: Freshman year
McCosh's running career started in the fall of 1980. That season she and Laura Charameda ran at the regional meet, where Charameda placed 40th and McCosh 59th. Marshall had no girls' team, so there was no team score for them, just a chance to race.
1981: A state finalist alongside the champions
As a sophomore, McCosh became a contender. She finished second overall in the girls' race at two October meets, with teammates Deb Norgan and Laura Charameda close behind. At the regional in Comstock she qualified for the state finals, the only Marshall girl to do so. She finished 45th in the girls' race at her first state meet.
That same fall, Coach Roy's boys went undefeated and won the Class B state championship. Before the state meet, local businesses bought a full-page "Good Luck at the State Meet" ad in the Chronicle, with McCosh right in the middle of the team photo.
1982: One of two
Photo: The 1982 cross country team, with Beth Fhaner and Renee McCosh. The Dial (Marshall High School yearbook), 1983, via Marshall District Library.
As a junior, McCosh and Beth Fhaner were the only two girls on what the 1983 Dial called "the former all male team." She was also the top female finisher at the 1982 Turkey Trot on the Marshall High School course, running three miles in 21:02. That year Coach Roy said he hoped to have a girls' team soon.
1983: The first girls' team
In September 1983 the Chronicle announced that Marshall would "field a full girls' cross country team this season for the first time ever." The roster had six runners, led by senior Renee McCosh. It included her younger sister Rachel, a freshman.
The new team placed second at the Union City and Centerville invitationals and sent two runners to the state meet. Freshman Diane Weaver placed sixth, and McCosh finished 55th. "We have started something good here," Coach Roy said.
He was right. The next fall the girls' team grew to ten runners and went 9-1.
Photo: Diane Weaver and Renee McCosh lead at the 1983 regional meet. The Dial (Marshall High School yearbook), 1984, via Marshall District Library.