Young team continues tradition of Badin success

Badin runners have come on strong, hope to continue hold on GCL Central.

By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer 12:14 AM Thursday, October 15, 2009

FAIRFIELD — The season hasn’t exactly gone as expected for Badin High School boys cross country coach Steve Smith.

And he couldn’t be happier about it.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Smith, whose young Rams squad will try to win a fourth consecutive Greater Catholic League Central Division championship this weekend at Rapid Run Park.

“Early in the year, I wasn’t even sure if I’d have enough guys to have a full team,” Smith said. “But we got some new guys out from track and a few other new people, and the freshmen have made a big difference.”

Buoyed by that strong freshman class and top runner Brent Fritz, who is the only senior on the team, the Rams won the Mason Invitational a few weeks back in addition to posting strong runner-up finishes at the Eaton, Centerville and St. Xavier invitationals.

“With all the young guys and some injuries to a few of our returning guys, we started out really slow,” Smith said. “We got absolutely hammered at the (Brian) Plasman Invitational in the first meet of the year.

“It’s been a difficult process,” Smith said. “I’ve had to have a lot of patience. I couldn’t train them like I did last year because some of the veterans had injuries and the rookies are exactly that — rookies.”

Leading the freshman group is Chris Getz, who has been a consistent fourth-place finisher for Badin this season. Mike Getz, who along with Chris make up two-thirds of triplets, and Noah Rich also have been solid for the Rams.

Juniors Evan North and Sam Wade usually finish second and third, and junior Nick Ingram runs a little bit back in the pack with the freshmen.

“(Ingram) ran JV last year, and he’s gone from 21 minutes to 18 minutes this year,” Smith said. “He started working really hard, and he’s kind of the appointed leader in that group of freshmen he runs with.”

Badin qualified to the Division II state meet in 2007 and 2008. This year, the team will run in Division III, which may actually make a third consecutive trip to Columbus a little tougher.

“Our district is going to be easier, but the D-III regional is going to be a lot tougher,” Smith said. “There are three great teams, and then we’ll be in a group of three or four more good teams. Only the top four make it to state.”

But the state meet, which is scheduled for Nov. 7, still is well in the distance. The Rams are focused on beating GCL Central favorite McNicholas for their fourth consecutive league title. Then they will focus on district, regional and state.

“I don’t want to make any predictions,” Smith said. “Whatever happens, it’s just been a really enjoyable season. The new guys came out and worked really hard, the older guys have been getting better, the parents have been really supportive, and we’re just having a lot of fun.”

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