“We hope to improve on our regional and state finishes from last year,” Rapp said. “We would also like to see improvement among our JV runners on down the line.”
District runner-up Michael Uematsu and 3,200 district champ Abel Nijakowski return to pace a squad that will also get key contributions from a pair of freshmen.
Brendan Pitcher was one of the top junior high runners for Mason in 2016 and Austin Cooper was among the leaders in the mile during the spring.
Mason, 105 members strong, will once again have to battle Lakota West, Lakota East and Sycamore for the Greater Miami Conference title as well as in the postseason.
But Rapp believes his group is up to the task.
“I believe we have improved in the area of attitude and effort,” Rapp said. “We have about nine guys who have the potential to grab the final five slots on the varsity team.”
Girls coach Chip Dobson has his largest squad at Mason with 140 runners.
Lily Hallum and Rue Whitmore return while Erin Tumulty and Ava Stover are key newcomers. Dobson has been impressed with Faith Min during early workouts.
“This is a great region this year with a loaded field,” Dobson said. “But our goals are to win the Greater Miami Conference and qualify for state.”
Breakout for Lebanon: Lebanon coach Mark Bierkan saw his squad start to serve notice in 2016, but believes the Warriors can have a breakout season in 2017.
The Lebanon boys claimed the Greater Western Ohio Conference and district titles before having a rough day at the regional meet.
Jackson Siddall returns after a strong track season. Siddall, who also played soccer last year, is focusing on cross country this year. David Klenk, who also ran at the state track meet, and sophomore Sam Duncan both return.
Add in freshmen Carter Davidson and Bryce Davis, senior Joel Robison and sophomore Thomas Clark from the JV squad and the Warriors look to be deep.
“Our season expectation is “next man up” and to continue right where we left off last season by making some noise at the regional meet and punching our ticket to the state championship,” Bierkan said. “We know the GWOC overall will be tough as always with Centerville, Beavercreek, and Miamisburg in it, but Centerville returns everyone from last years team that was ninth in the state so they are likely the favorite. We should have a great opportunity to win our division again this year.”
The Lebanon girls were runner-up in the division and finished 10th in the regional meet.
Senior Sydney Stegeman is healthy this season and should improve on her 19:47. Classmate Milena Wahl and sophomore Lily Bevan also return to give Lebanon some experience.
Faith Duncan, Hope Erbach, Ellie Bevan, Hope Carr, Sarah Hartman and Lily Kusler move up from the junior high team that claimed the state title to give the Warriors depth.
“Our team expectation is to do something that has never been done in Lebanon’s girls history,” Bierkan said. “This freshman group is extremely talented. It should be a lot of fun to watch them grow as racers this fall.”
Kings experienced: The Knights are looking to build off a strong spring on the track.
The girls will be replacing top runner Hannah Rasmussen, who is now running at the University of San Diego.
Five of the top seven runners from last season return, led by Leah Mashino, Jennifer Cooper, Karleigh Conner, Anya Martin and Gwyn Gorley. Add in newcomers Brooke Garter and Ashlyn Garter and the Knights look to have depth.
The Kings boys have 13 seniors returning to go with front runner juniors Ryan O’Connor and Jacob Krynock. Freshmen Alex Justus and Caleb Chunn add depth to push the returners.
Dawson Paul returns after dominating the SWOC on the boys side while Lydia Vach was first team all-SWOC to pace the Panthers.
Mitch Wehrung also returns for the boys team while the girls get added experience from Tejas Dinesh and Lincoln Schmucker.
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