Southwestern Community College Head Cross Country Coach Trey Bruton recently announced the signing of Maslyn (Mazzy) Hummel of Corning, the first student-athlete to join the Spartans' 2019-20 cross country program.

Hummel, an area standout from Southwest Valley High School in Corning, ran for the Timberwolves, a member of Iowa Class 1A. Bruton looks for Hummel to come in and be a leader right away for the team next fall.

"Mazzy has a great work ethic both in the classroom and out on the course," Bruton said. "She is going to be coming in with several college credits already and having someone who cares about their academics like that usually means they are going to be dedicated to their sport and give you their very best."

Bruton looks forward to getting Hummel to Southwestern and helping her continue to develop as a strong contributing member to cross country program.

Competing at the 1A level, Hummel is no stranger to several of the members of the Spartan team who also competed at that classification.

When asked about the continued targeting of local 1A school athletes, Bruton said, “As I spoke to last year, we enjoy getting these kids from small-town Iowa. They know exactly what it takes to be a contributing member of our team and how to put in the work to get better."

According to Bruton, a lot of these student-athletes put in hours on the farm during the summer and some even in the fall after they get to college, so they are no strangers to hard work.

"We obviously want kids from all backgrounds and seek out student-athletes from everywhere, but having local talent is always a plus for us," Bruton explained. "Mazzy will provide a good start to the women’s class to add some much-needed depth to the Southwestern roster."

Bruton said his program continues to build each year.

"We established a solid foundation this season to build on and Mazzy fits in well with those ladies who will be returning for us next season," said Bruton. "With her addition, our top seven only continue to get better and our times are going to continue to come down and allow us to compete with the best in our conference and the country.”