Going for a run: Bloomington area boys and girls cross country team previews
Area boys’ previews
Bloomington South boys
Last year: 2nd at sectional; 2nd at regional; 5th at semistate, 18th at state
The lineup: The Panthers got a piece of good news this summer. It concerned senior Jack Gildea, a 16:20 runner as a sophomore who ended up dealing with heart issues last year thanks to an unknown virus. He did get back into the top seven last year but head coach Larry Williams’ team missed having him in the top three last year as was expected. So Williams was delighted when Gildea came up to him during off-season workouts and said, ‘I finally feel like my old self.’ That gives South a tough 1-2 punch along with junior Ryan Rheam, 12th in the 3,200 at state track last spring and looking stronger this fall. “I’m happy to see him and Ryan out front pushing each other,” Williams said.
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Behind them, Williams loves the pack that’s developing with returning runners juniors Hunter Tabor, Joe Zinkan and Suoming Zhang. Senior Jake Keller has also stepped into the mix after an injury kept him from competing for a spot in the state series last year. Behind them are another pack of four sophomores who ran well in track last year: Roman Ross, Marshall Caldwell, David Jackson, Matt Stein and Vasidy Bender. Junior Ryan Gales and freshman Sam Lutz have also shown they might take a shot at a varsity spot as well.
Outlook: South can contend for a top-10 spot at state and with that in mind, Williams said, look for this team to start a but slower than usual to make they finish fast at the end.
“It’s a team that is reshaping itself in a lot of ways,” he said. “We’ll be fairly strong up front, with a pack that’s been developing since last season. They were showing some signs but one thing or another got in the way of that last year as we had hoped. But they blossomed in the spring.”
The schedule: South will run in a new meet at Brown County in Week 2 instead of the Zionsville 4k, and they have no meets scheduled for the week after the Conference Indiana meet. The annual Monroe County Meet has been eliminated.
Bloomington North boys
Last year: 1st at sectional; 3rd at regional, 2nd at semistate, 13th at state
The lineup: It starts with senior Kyle Clark, the only returning member from the state team and the school record holder in the 1,600 after medaling at state last spring. If he stays healthy, he should have a good shot of getting back on the podium for cross country and he’ll see where he stands in the season opening Valley Kickoff. The rest of the team must prove itself. “Very young,” head coach Charlie Warthan said. “That being said, the young kids are pretty good. How good is to be determined and I hope fairly soon.”
It’s a rebuilt lineup but it will have some bodies who ran varsity at times last year, with junior Dominic D’Onofrio and sophomore Jack Holden, if he can keep shin splits at bay. Also looking like top-seven material are two strong sophomores Nathan Campbell and Verl Burton, junior Gabe Hererra and senior Nic Kaiser. Warthan also likes three of his top freshmen in Caelan D’Onofrio, Caleb Winders and Jacob Mitchell.
The outlook: There are just four seniors on the roster so the Cougars’ best days may lie well ahead, but this is a team that will make a push for state.
“Our four through 8-9-10 guys on the team, any given day can be a top-seven runner,” Warthan said. “That’s going to be a good thing to keep everyone honest.”
The schedule: North has picked up a hokum karem meet at Avon and is headed to the new Brown County meet as well with the Dave Bannon race canceled. The Monroe County Meet has also been canceled.
Edgewood boys
Last year: 4th at sectional; 6th at regional
The lineup: It’s now a sophomore dominated lineup and one that may surprise early on given the great improvement the once freshman have made, head coach Zach Evans said. Nobody made a bigger jump than Caleb Webb, who will lead the pack along with Jackson Klinger, who broke his arm playing baseball over the summer and will take some time get up to full speed. Also with them should be Zane Meyer, who got hurt last season and missed the final races, but looked good in track.
Junior Josh Kohne, sophomores Landen Beauchamp and Carson Sigman and seniors Anthony Gough and Ty Abel could all factor in the top seven this year.
“They are extremely confident runners,” Evans said. “They can see how much they’ve improved in similar workouts to last year. It’s exciting to see that, even in practice.”
The outlook: The improved strength at the top was expected but the Mustangs also have the kind of depth they’ll need to be WIC contenders and semistate qualifiers.
“We have a lot of potential to be one of those teams pushing for a top-six spot at semistate,” Evans said. “That’s definitely a big leap and they are showing that kind of speed in practice. It’s good for so many of our top seven to be sophomores this year and it’s even better for the future.”
The schedule: Mostly the same, save for the ditching of the Monroe County Meet, but the Mustangs will get a chance to host the regional this year.
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Lighthouse Christian boys
Last year: 10th at sectional
The lineup: There are just three at the moment for head coach David Schaaf, who is hoping to expand the lineup before the opener. Junior Nathanael Huck will for the third year split time between soccer and cross county but will lead the way. Junior Avery Lueck is in his first year at LCA while sophomore Keaton Jones got a late start on the season.
The outlook: Without five runners and no team score, then the focus will purely be on qualifying individuals for regional.
The schedule: LCA will have two home dates this year, including the Southern Roads Conference meet.
Eastern Greene boys
Last year: 8th at sectional
The lineup: Bill Valentine's squad was freshman-sophomore heavy group led by Jace Dawes, Oliver Pate, Brayten Enlow, Maddox Ault and Roman Valentine. Just two seniors graduated from the top seven, including No. 1 runner Will Valentine, the squads only regional qualifier.
The outlook: A healthy and intact returning lineup could give the T-Birds a shot at SWIAC and a regional team berth.
The schedule: The Greene County Invitational will run at White River Valley this year and the SWIAC meet at Shakamak.
Area girls' previews
Bloomington North girls
Last year: 1st at sectional; 2nd at regional, 5th at semistate, 15th at state
The lineup: The Cougars are poised to have one of the state's better 1-2 combos in senior Rachel Allison and junior Nola Somers Glenn. Allison often took the lead spot last year and was derailed by COVID at the end of track season. Glenn keeps taking big leaps, breaking the school record in the 800 last year (2:13.97) to earn a state medal. "We know what those two are capable of," coach Justin Helmer said. "We have a lot of question marks beyond that."
But there are plenty of choices, so there should be strong competition for a top-seven spot. Heading the list are sophomore Ellie Patrick, who didn't run cross last year (was a cheerleader) but had a good track season, returning usual 5-6-7 runners, sophomore Ruth Bartlett, senior Emma McDivitt and junior Carloline Norrick. Sophomore Lilah Reed has pushed herself into top-five consideration. McDivitt is trying to power through a torn ACL while Norrick is also coming off an injury during track. Other possibilities include first-year junior Kiera Feagans, seniors Cora Deemer and Mikalah Wiles, sophomore Joyce Wu, junior Teagan Hanna and sophomore Hope Cooper.
The outlook: Helmer has no idea how it will play out, but a strong pack behind the top two will keep the Cougars in semistate contention. "The negative is there are so many unknowns positions," Helmer said. "The plus side is we've got a lot of people trying to get there so that should create some competition and make us all better while fighting for those spots."
The schedule: North will start off at the Gibson Southern Hokum Karem Relays, head to the new meet at Brown County, then take a week off. Cougars will head back to Culver Invite as well. The Monroe County Meet is also scratched out.
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Bloomington South girls
Last year: 2nd at sectional; 3rd at regional, 7th at semistate
The lineup: The Panthers will feature one of the state’s best in Lily Myers, who was 14th last year in cross county and 10th in the state in the 3,200 after breaking the school record twice in the postseason. “We’re really excited about Lily,” head coach Jill Rensink said. “I know she’s raring to go. She has big goals this year and is as focused as I’ve ever seen her.” And will be after missing the opener. Not back this year is senior Emma Callahan, but there’s a bit more depth for the Panthers to lean on in hopes of returning to state after settling for seventh at semistate last year.
Returning are juniors Kara Barada, coming off a good track season, and Clara Graham, who will both look to dip under 20 minutes this year on a regular basis, along with senior Chloe Borders, who skipped track season, will improve as she gets her speed back. Junior Millie Williams will be in the mix as will junior Tamara Kun and sophomore Grace Stringer. Rensink likes the top 10-12 she has.
The outlook: Simple, make it back to state. “That’s pretty big,” Rensink said. “We’ve talked about it and it definitely stung last year. All seven ran the best they could, we just didn’t have the numbers. They were sad, which showed me how much they really wanted it.”
The schedule: No more Zionsville 4k with the Panthers now in the new Brown County meet in Week 2. Panthers will also take a week off after Conference Indiana. Monroe County meet now off the table.
Edgewood girls
Last year: 3rd at sectional; tied 4th at regional, 12th at semistate
The lineup: Graduation has forced a youth movement for the Mustangs, who have but one senior and one junior and a lot of freshmen who must have an immediate impact. They will be led by one of the state’s best in senior Clara Crain, who had to sit out much of last year and all of her track season. She’s healthy now and ready to make a final run at it. “She’s been looking pretty strong all summer,” head coach Zach Evans said.
And just as she chased after older sister Annalyssa, Clara has Hannah, a freshman, after her too. She’ll need to make the usual adjustment to the longer distance, but her junior high times were right there with her sisters so her upside seems high as well. Also back is junior Riley Haskett, who has taken a big step up this summer. From there, freshmen will fill in led by Ellie Vagedas, who also comes from a family of strong distance runners and Allison Bland, who also plays softball and basketball.
The outlook: The Mustangs have a potential state medalist and solid top five but also a lot of youth and question marks beyond that as they look to battle Northview and Indian Creek atop the WIC again this year.
The schedule: Not much changing for the Mustangs, who will get to play host to the regional this year.
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Lighthouse Christian girls
Last year: No team result at sectional
The lineup: The Lions have just four runners at the moment for head coach David Schaaf, but he’s hoping to grab at least one more to give them an opportunity for a team score. Leading the way are two of the top returning runners from last year in senior Madeline Esslinger, a two-time regional qualifier who was a 100-200 sprinter during track season, and sophomore Zoe Crites, who broke the school’s 1,600 record with a 5:44. “I’m excited to see what those two can do this year,” Schaaf said. “They’ve been putting in good work at practice, so I’m looking for a big year from those two.” The squad also includes two athletes who will split time with volleyball in returning junior Faith Rasmusen and freshman Katie Burlingham.
The outlook: A good season of work should put Esslinger and Crites in position to earn semistate berths.
The schedule: LCA will host the Southern Roads Conference meet again this year.
Eastern Greene girls
Last year: 4th at sectional; 7th at regional
The outlook: Just one senior graduated off last year’s roster for coach Bill Valentine, so a group that was led by sophomore Lillyanna Blais could take another step up this year. Last year’s top seven included Jaylynn Paine (Jr.), Ashley Hudson (Sr.), Lydia Pfaff (So.), Zoie Ault (Sr.) and Lidia Merineo (Jr.)
The outlook: Eastern Greene was second in the SWIAC last year but there were only four seniors in the top 25, so it figures to be another good battle for the top spot. The T-Birds should also be in a position to make another regional appearance.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington-area cross country boys and girls team previews
