Team by team

1. North Central: The Panthers have serious state championship aspirations led by Futsum Zeinasellassie -- last year's state runner-up -- and fellow All-State performer Connor Geshay. They lose Zeinasellassie's brother, Bahlebi, and Ethan Wellin to graduation but remain deep with Filimon Adhanom, Matt Fox and Julian Toumey joined by freshmen Corey Turner and Siemon Adhanom.

2. Cathedral: The Irish return the nucleus of their team in Hale O'Herren, J.R. Ricker and Jake Kelly and coach Jim Nohl believes he's got runners to step in at the bottom of the lineup in Elliott Parhsall, Walker Walls and Will Bond.

3. Lawrence North: A balanced lineup took Lawrence North to a third-place finish in sectionals last season but three of the top four runners have graduated. Coach Kris McAloon expects to have a similar team this season, however, as Zack Miller and Scott Stanley are back. John Roche and Zach Grese will compete to be No. 1 with Jack Alvarado and Logan Bagby pushing for varsity time.

4. Pike: The Red Devils won't have a dominant runner such as Craig or Michael Jordan but will be far more balanced. Brian Jett and Nilay Petel return from last year and Andrew Wilkey and Andrew Scheaffer also have varsity experience. Coach Curtis Goss expects Luis Salcedo to contribute as well.

5. Lawrence Central: The Bears will add a talented freshman class to a solid returning nucleus and have coach Mike Holman as excited as he's been in 32 years. Connor Claflin and Nate Hetrick return as leaders with Ross Pereira, Sean Gassen, Doug Blaase and Cameron Doxey competing for varsity spots. Chandler Ball and Matt Dorsey lead a freshman class that was the Marion County champion as eighth-graders.

6. Heritage Christian: The Eagles graduated Nick Thompson and Kimber Shaw but coach Eric Richey is looking forward to the season. Taylor Story surpassed Thompson's school record last season. Jack Morgan was one of the top runners in the area as an eighth-grader before injuries held him back the past two season. Nathan Hadley will miss time early in the season due to rock-climbing competitions but will be a third strong runner.

7. Brebeuf Jesuit: The Braves return a strong lineup led by Jason Hoard. No. 2 runner John Krasich will focus on baseball instead of running but Nick Kirkpatrick, a transfer from Carmel, will be counted on. Seniors Matt Ralls, Isiah Brenner, Ali Hussain, Jacob Krebda and Tyler Hoffman are in the mix.

8. International: The Gryphons will miss semistate qualifier Noah Droddy, who is now at DePauw after leading the school to regionals for the first time. But International will have its biggest team ever with Nick Calderon, Erik Haschel and Graham Jones returning along with Alex Chabraja, Rusty Umble and Alec Mandich.

9. Bishop Chatard: The Trojans will be inexperienced. Coach Dan Kinghorn has penciled in junior Nick Boyce and senior Kevin Zander at the top of the lineup and has seniors Nick Audenaert and Pat Zabriskie returning with varsity experience. A class of 12 freshmen will fill out the lineup.

10. Park Tudor: The Panthers suffered two huge losses to graduation in Kyle Marks and Ryan McClure. Henry Farley is the top runner but he'll also be splitting time with soccer. Jack Thygeson will also be counted on. The team opened practice with only four boys.

11. Broad Ripple: The Rockets graduated top runner Lucas McCabe, putting a heavy burden on seniors Marcell Reynolds and Courtney Hardy. They are led by first-year coach Glen Pierce.

Top early-season race

Brebeuf Invitational, Aug. 22, 9 a.m.: It includes nearly every area team including state champion Carmel.