High school boys cross country team previews
Jacob Miller grew in leaps and bounds last year and looks to pace the Knights to plenty of strong finishes this cross country season.
The high school boys cross country season will begin Aug. 21.
Here are season previews for each school in The Holmes Bargain Hunter’s coverage area:
Hiland
With just three runners on their roster, the Hawks will focus on individual finishes this season.
Senior George Malicky and junior Nathan Young are both back from last season, and they’ll be joined this year by freshman Jake Troyer.
“(Having three runners isn’t) enough to score (at meets), but with our two returners, Malicky and Young, in addition to Troyer, we can expect a competitive group that can push each other to top 20 at the IVC Championship,” third-year coach Jackie Kaufman said.
A lack of expectations from outsiders will be a strength for Hiland this season, according to Kaufman.
“With that allows little pressure and great opportunity,” she said.
Kaufman thinks her runners have a chance to make some noise in the postseason.
“I hope to see our men place within top 20 at IVC and advance to the regional meet,” Kaufman said. “I think if we’re injury free and they all work together for some healthy competition, we could see some great regional meet finishes.”
West Holmes
The Knights return nearly everyone from last year’s varsity team, so they have high expectations heading into this season.
“Losing two-time All-Ohioan Zeke Galbraith is a tough loss, but we return everyone else from last year’s varsity team, and we add freshman Remy Beachy, who finished second in the middle school OCC meet last year,” 17th-year coach Kevin Beachy said. “All returning runners have been working very hard and are fully expecting to again qualify for regionals and be competitive there.”
WH’s returning letterwinners are seniors Braydyn Lemon and Jacob Miller, juniors Reid Chaney and Hunter Uptain, and sophomores Owen Mallasch and Owen Neville while its promising newcomers are sophomore Lincoln Snow and freshman Beachy.
“We have a lot of experience and are excited to see some breakouts this year,” coach Beachy said.
Coach Beachy is intrigued to see how his team adapts early in the season with Galbraith no longer leading the way in the races.
As for the Ohio Cardinal Conference meet, coach Beachy expects Lexington, Wooster and Ashland to battle for conference supremacy once again.
“We hope to be competitive with them this year,” he said.
Loudonville
The Redbirds are young again this year, but they will be a more experienced bunch this season compared to last.
“We are still overall a young group of runners, but they learned a lot about race strategy and workouts last year, so I expect them to show a lot of new strength and better consistency on the course (this season),” second-year coach Whitney Snyder said. “We’ve changed up the race schedule a little to see more of our strong district and regional level teams, so hopefully that helps prepare them for the races later on.”
Four letterwinners return this season — junior Franky Sanchez and sophomores Dylan Hammitt, Steven Ringler and Lettie Wenell.
“The boys are very motivated to improve on what they were able to accomplish last year,” Snyder said. “They’ve been consistent with their conditioning in the offseason and continue to work together well and support and push each other in workouts, so I’m hoping to see improvements in postseason placements and several PRs.”
At this season’s Mid-Buckeye Conference meet, Snyder hopes to see her athletes improve upon last year’s finishes.
“The Mid-Buckeye Conference has some very strong, experienced runners on the boys side, so I expect our boys to be competitive and stick with them by the end of the season and improve their placements from last year,” Snyder said.
Garaway
The Pirates bring back a lot of experience this season, leading to plenty of excitement surrounding the program.
“Thankfully, we have almost everyone returning from last season,” ninth-year coach Lucas Immel said. “Our goal is to continue building upon the work we did last year and during track season.”
Returning letterwinners include seniors Tyler Hershberger, Nathan Money and Seth Zimmerman; junior Jase Miller; and sophomores Nic Palmer, Aaron Miller and Carter Travis. Promising newcomer DeAndre Schlabach, a junior, also will be in the mix.
“We are hoping that pack running will be a strength of ours this season,” Immel said. “We have a lot of guys grouped together, so that will be beneficial for training and meets.”