The high school sports season is about to begin again, as boys and girls cross-country join five other sports beginning preseason practice on Monday. Here is a look at how the teams in the north suburban area stack up and the top five returning runners:
BOYS
BOYS 1. North Central: The Panthers rose from fourth to third in the state last year and have their sights firmly set on winning a state championship. They return state champion Futsum Zeinasellassie and fellow all-state runner Filimon Adhanom. Matt Fox, Jared Burris and Corey Turner return from last year's top seven, with Siemon Adhanom, Matt Luce and Chris Hansen looking to step into the varsity lineup. Freshmen Eliot Toumey and James Huffman-Liss will also provide competition.
2. Lawrence Central: The Bears return all their top runners from last season, led by Connor Claflin, Matt Dorsey, Ross Pereira, Cole Hester, Chandler Ball, Adam Turner, Cameron Doxey and Doug Blaase. Freshmen Kenny Thomas, who won the Marion County Middle School championship, and Alston Gholar will also push for time. The semistate will be brutal again, but Lawrence Central will benefit from a state runner-up finish in track.
3. Lawrence North: The Wildcats return No. 1 runner Josh Roche. Coach Kris McAloon believes a healthy Scott Stanley, who battled illness last year, will challenge Roche for the top spot. Will Hogston also returns with varsity experience, and McAloon expects seniors Logan Bagby and Zach Mahone, who had been playing football, to contribute. The regional will be brutal again, but Lawrence North is capable of getting through it and qualifying for the state meet.
4. Pike: The Red Devils return the nucleus of last year's team in Brian Jett, Sammy Tebeje, Logan Jones, Luis Salcedo and Andrew Wilkey with the addition of a freshman class that won at Carmel Middle School, led by Mason Cooper, Josh Bishop, Miguel Rios and Nathan Wilkey. The postseason path in Indianapolis is difficult, but Pike has its sights set on making the state championship.
5. Brebeuf Jesuit: The Braves are one of the top small-school programs in the state. Jason Hoard returns to lead the team on and off the course, with Nick Kirkpatrick providing another high-caliber runner. Sam Pence and Jake Dennie are expected to move up to scoring positions after running in the seventh and eighth spots last season. Freshman Robbie Deckard should make an impact, and Kyle Taylor returns from an injury-plagued 2009 season. Coach Karl Knerr believes this may be the best team he's had in 20 years, but getting out of a tough regional will require a perfect performance.
6. Cathedral: The Irish return Jack Kelly, Will Bond and Elliott Parshall from last season's varsity. It'll be impossible to replace runners the caliber of graduates Hale O'Herren and J.R. Ricker, but coach Jim Nohl has Spencer Clapp, Patrick Zunk, Seamus Brennan and Keith MacDonell ready to step in, and he expects the team to improve throughout the year.
7. Heritage Christian: This senior class was the nucleus of the first Eagles teams to get out of the sectional as freshmen and sophomores, but coach Eric Richey believes the team leveled off last season, partly due to injuries. Taylor Story is fully recovered from a hip injury and will join Nathan Hadley, a national class junior rock climber, at the front of the pack. Jack Morgan also missed time last year with a stress fracture but will return to the No. 3 spot. Sam Vance is another senior expected to contribute, and the class will get some competition from a strong sophomore group.
8. Bishop Chatard: The Trojans were a balanced team in last season's sectional, with five runners finishing between 43rd and 51st, and they will return Nick Boyce at the top of their lineup. Andy Barnett and Jackson Naylor-Cook will give the program a solid nucleus to build on.
9. International: Coach Brian Power believes the Gryphons have the talent in place to return to the regional and defend the Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference title. Alex Chabraja and Graham Jones dedicated themselves to the sport in the offseason and will get plenty of help from Rusty Umble and Evan Seifert, who has given up soccer to focus on cross-country. Senior Sinclair Lee is also expected to contribute.
10. Park Tudor: Coach Mike Penington only had five boys on the team last season, but all are expected to return. The Panthers annually start slowly, since students return later than most of the schools in the area, and will likely be sharing top runner Henry Farley with the soccer team. Pennington, however, was happy with the performance of Jack Thygesen and Kevin Rex last season and has seen seniors Tommaso Verderami and Richard Ni increase their commitment during the summer. He's hoping for a few surprises from the freshman class, as well.
11. Arlington: Coach Jerry Clark will rebuild the Golden Knights around DQ Beaseley. Julius Jackson is expected to be the best freshmen as Arlington develops its cross-country program. Clark expects to have five to 10 runners this season with a goal of reaching 12 and competing for an Indianapolis Public Schools Athletic Conference title.
Top 5 boys runners 1. Futsum Zeinasellassie, North Central. 2. Filimon Adhannon, North Central. 3. Jason Hoard, Brebeuf. 4. Josh Roche, Lawrence North. 5. Connor Claflin, Lawrence Central.
GIRLS
1. North Central: Panthers coach Jake Nay believes he has the talent to put to rest the bitter memory of not advancing out of the regional due to the effects of flu last season. No. 1 runner Marissa Stephens -- who missed the regional -- returns, but she could be challenged for the top spot by Breanna Poulsen, who had a major breakthrough during the track season and finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run in the state meet. Allie Rogers, Madison Long, Liz Gamage and Meghan Fox also return with varsity experience, and Annie Lohrstorfer leads the strongest freshman class of Nay's tenure.
2. Cathedral: The Irish add sophomore Sydney Devine, a transfer from Indian Creek, and freshman Marrissa Mallinckrodt to a returning nucleus of Katie Quigley, Emma MacAnally, Maggie Johns and Grace Bennett. Cathedral was deep in young talent last season, so another City title and return to the state championship meet are within the teams' grasp.
3. Pike: Four years ago, coach Kendra Champion-McAloon took over a program that had finished ninth in the Brebeuf Jesuit Sectional and, led by freshmen Abigale Hall and Jacklyn Lahr, improved to fifth in the Ben Davis Sectional, then won back-to-back titles. Champion-McAloon has added Lydia and Sophoa Greene to that nucleus, and sophomore Breanna Herring and freshmen Stephanie Timm and Hillary Merrill are ready to step in this season as the Red Devils look for a state meet berth.
4. Lawrence Central: The Bears return all their runners from last season and have added the experience of winning the track state championship. Erica Carlson, the school record-holder at 18 minutes, 51 seconds, Maddie and Macie Roach, Kollette Koihler, Karis Johnson and Ashley and Allyssa Jackson return, and Samantha Strong is ready to return after missing last season due to injury. Lawrence Central's goal is to finish in the top five in the state.
5. Bishop Chatard: The Trojans return the area's top finisher in the state meet in Mary Davis. Arden Burch, Kara Sobolewski, Annie Dietrick and Katie Barnes give coach Dan Kinghorn plenty of experience.
6. Lawrence North: The Wildcats return a promising nucleus of Sarah Field, an all-state contender, Marie Richardson, Stephanie Madsen, Jacey Linn and Abby Snyder, with freshman Tiffany Miller expected to push for varsity time.
7. Brebeuf Jesuit: Rachel Whitman leads a talented returning nucleus that also includes sophomore Emily Guy and senior Erin McMenamin. Senior Meagan Neal, freshman Caroline Garau, sophomore Abby Brenner and junior Melissa Mulder will also compete for varsity time. The Braves have to battle larger schools in the postseason, but a regional berth is a realistic goal.
8. Heritage Christian: The Eagles return a group with the potential to qualify for the regional for the first time. Seniors Rebecca Reutman and Lindsay Testerman provide the leadership for a talented sophomore class that is led by Kathryn Gerig, who was All-City as a freshman, and Kelly Taylor, who finished ninth in the City championship. Coach Eric Richey has been pleased with his athletes' ability to balance having fun with working hard.
9. International: Three athletes who expect to compete in college have graduated: Amana McMahon (a two-time semistate qualifier who will walk-on at Indiana), Nicki Inman (Haverford) and Britton Dallas (Augustana). The Gryphons can't avoid a rebuilding season after losing the top three runners in school history, but sophomores Alexandra Marske and Isabel Tumminello return, and freshman Amelia Bunce and senior Trishya Srinivasan are expected to contribute. 10. Arlington: Coach James Adams will build a young team around returning sophomore Shelby Dartis. The Golden Knights lost three of their seven runners from last season to graduation but Adams believes he'll have several freshmen to fill out the varsity lineup, which will give a rebuilding program a chance to establish itself over the next three seasons. The team finished eighth in the City meet last season and is aiming for a top-five finish this season.
11. Park Tudor: The Panthers had only two or three girls running and did not field a full team last year, but they expect to have everyone back this season. Abby Farley will be the team's top runner, but she splits her time with soccer and missed several meets last season. Park Tudor's fall session begins later than most schools, so the program will likely get off to a slow start, but coach Mike Penington is hoping to field a full team with freshman additions.
Top 5 girls runners 1. Mary Davis, Bishop Chatard. 2. Sarah Field, Lawrence North. 3. Erica Carlson, Lawrence Central. 4. Emma MacAnally, Cathedral. 5. Lydia Greene, Pike. Next Page