Columbus North and Jennings County went back and forth last season as the area’s top boys cross-country teams.
The Bull Dogs beat the Panthers at the Brown County Regional and Semistate. But Jennings beat North three times, including in the state finals, where the Panthers edged the Bull Dogs by one point for 16th and 17th place.
Those two teams figure to again be the best in the area and should once again continue for state berths.
“We want to be part of the party, not just to be there, but make some things happen and make sure people know that we’re there,” North coach Danny Fisher said.
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Here is a look at those and other area schools:
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs finished third in Conference Indiana last season, but were able to defend their sectional and regional titles in their first year under Fisher.
Four of the seven varsity runners from that team graduated. Seniors Sam Horak and John Sluys, the Bull Dogs’ Nos. 2 and 3 runners for most of last season, return as the leaders.
“If training workouts are indicative of racing, they’ll be a real good 1-2 punch for us, and Rishi Poludasu, a third senior, should be a strong No. 3,” Fisher said.
Collin Pruitt has been North’s No. 4 runner in practice so far. He leads a solid sophomore class that includes Austin Pulkowski, Gabe Wills and Andy Stohr.
Those runners are battling for varsity spots with seniors Jared Embry and Paxton Rush and freshmen Matt Newell, Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff, Evan Carr, Will Kiel and Ethan Lax.
“The summer has gone smooth,” Fisher said. “We had a great week of camp. We did a lot of team bonding there and talked about culture and chemistry and leadership — stuff like that — and we ran real hard each day. We’re ready to start racing.”
Columbus East
Seven runners who competed in the postseason return for the Olympians.
East finished seventh in the Hoosier Hills Conference, fifth in the sectional and ninth in the regional last year. Its goal is to place in the top five in the regional, which would lead to a semistate berth.
“Last season, we had a pretty young team, and we dealt with inconsistency,” East coach Ryan Burke said. “I’m hoping with the more experience that we’ve gotten, we’ll be able to perform a higher level on a more consistent basis.”
Senior Garrett McGaha returns to lead the Olympians. Also back from the varsity are juniors Ryan Sadtler, Nick Walter and Matthew Novreske; sophomore Kaden Wise and seniors Owen Rupp and Jared Baker.
Junior Colby Hertle also ran in some varsity meets last season.
“I think that we are looking to be in much better shape than we were last year,” Burke said. “We return a large portion of our team, and we’re making good progress right now.”
Hauser
After having a full team the past few years, the Jets began practice with only two runners last week.
Sophomore Ryan Ault was the team’s No. 2 runner last season, when Hauser finished second in the Mid-Hoosier Conference meet. He will be joined by sophomore Thomas Essex, who played soccer last year.
“There’s a potential for a couple more we might pick up, which would be great,” Hauser coach Ben Finke said. “But if we don’t have a team, we can focus on individual development. They’re both young and have a lot of talent.”
Jennings County
The Panthers had the best season in school history last year. They won Hoosier Hills Conference and Southwestern (Hanover) Sectional titles and qualified for state for the second consecutive year.
Senior Alex Hendrix was the individual regional runner-up, and junior Carter Leak was the individual sectional champion. Juniors Jason Gasper and AJ Siener also return from the varsity.
“We’re not as good this early in the year as we were last year, but by October, we’ll be a tough team to beat,” Jennings coach Bryant Layman said. “I think we’ll be just as good at the end of the year as we were last year.”
Lane Elsner leads a talented freshman class that also includes Logan McIntosh, Ian Campbell and Brenden Baker. They are battling for varsity spots, along with sophomores Drew Stroud, Gavin Hendrix and Trey Wilson.
“Our goal is to get in the top 15 in state this year,” Layman said. “But the big goal is to win the conference because this is a young team. The good news is, I return pretty much everybody in 2019.”
Brown County
The Eagles won the Western Indiana Conference last year, but begin this season with only four runners for certain.
Seniors Jackson McPheeters and Marino Dolph return from last years team that finished second in the sectional, fourth in the regional and 13th in the semistate. The pair also ran on the 4×800-meter relay team that finished sixth in the state track finals this spring.
Sophomore Cameron Fox was Brown County’s No. 7 runner, and senior Jason Stratton moves up from the JV. Beyond that, the Eagles may have one freshman who could fill the fifth spot.
“Our numbers are really low this year,” Brown County coach Rob Abraham said. “It’s just one of those deals where we lost quite a few seniors. Hopefully, we can get a few others out when school starts.”
South Decatur
The Cougars return two runners from a team that finished third in the MHC and eighth in the South Dearborn Sectional.
Nolan Storm is the team’s lone senior. He and junior Logan Platt were the Nos. 4 and 5 runners last season.
The rest of the team consists of six freshmen. Trevor Newby heads a class that includes Tyler Hibberd, Terry Redelman, Kurtis Campfield, Bradley Walling and Josh Shouse.
“We have been logging miles as a team and are ready to go,” South Decatur coach Bethany Fromer said. “The freshman class is ready to step up.”
Edinburgh
After having only one runner the past couple years, the Lancers again have just one to begin this season.
Freshman Parker Young is the lone boys runner for new coach Amy Schilling. Schilling, who is Edinburgh’s girls basketball coach, is a former cross-country coach for the Lancers who has returned to that position.
“We’re still trying to recruit,” Schilling said. “There’s a couple on the fence or don’t have their physicals in.”
Trinity Lutheran
New coach Jennifer Hildreth opened practice with only two runners, one more than they had last season.
That returner, senior AJ Goecker, was an individual qualifier for semistate. He will be joined by freshman Jacob Sabotin.
“I definitely think that (Goecker) has the talent and the work ethic to make (reaching state) a goal. Jacob will quickly learn what he can do, and he’ll hopefully continue to set bigger goals as he goes on through high school.”
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2018 cross-country schedules for Bartholomew County schools:
Columbus East
Aug. 15;at Brown County Challenge;5:45 p.m.
Aug. 18;at Zionsville Invitational;9 a.m.
Aug. 21;Columbus North (at Ceraland);5:30 p.m.
Aug. 25;at Rushville Invitational;9 a.m.
Sept. 1;at Columbus North Classic (Ceraland);9:30 a.m.
Sept. 8;at Ben Davis Invitational;9:30 a.m.
Sept. 15;at Flashrock Invitational (Carmel);9 a.m.
Sept. 22;at Bedford North Lawrence Invitational;9 a.m.
Sept. 29;HHC at Floyd Central;9 a.m.
Columbus North
Aug. 21;Columbus East (at Ceraland);5:30 p.m.
Aug. 25;at Shelbyville Dave Bannon Invitational;10 a.m.
Sept. 1;Columbus North Classic (Ceraland);9:30 a.m.
Sept. 8;at Brown County Eagle Classic;9:15 a.m.
Sept. 15;Conference Indiana at LaVern Gibson (Terre Haute);10 a.m.
Sept. 22;at New Haven Invite (at Purdue-Fort Wayne);8:45 a.m.
Sept. 29;at Nike Valley Twilight (LaVern Gibson);6:45 p.m.
Hauser
Aug. 18;at Rising Sun Invitational;9 a.m.
Aug. 25;at Rushville Invitational;9 a.m.
Aug. 28;at Greensburg (with South Decatur);5 p.m.
Sept. 8;at Whiteland Invitational;8:30 a.m.
Sept. 15;MHC at Blue River Park;9 a.m.
Sept. 25;at Morristown;5 p.m.
Sept. 27;at Greensburg Invitational;5 p.m.
Sept. 29;Heritage Day Classic;9 a.m.
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