By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
We thought it was time for an opening salvo on the upcoming boys cross country season, so we did a little checking. What we found is that this is likely to be a banner year. Why? Because evidently, nobody in this sport ever graduates.
Let���?�s start with last year���?�s state champions, the Northridge Raiders. Coach Josh Fletcher returns five of his top seven runners from last season���?�s squad. That certainly will produce an advantage over fourth-place Fort Wayne Snider, which lost a lot to graduation, but none of the other main contenders are going to be too impressed.
Take Columbus North, for example. The Bulldogs slipped, if you can call it that, to a fifth-place finish last year following consecutive state titles. This time, the Bull Dogs return six of their top seven runners, losing only their No. 3 man from last season.
Those powers pale in comparison, however, to the firepower returning for other contenders.
Warren Central, which finished out of the Top 20 a year ago, returns ALL SEVEN of its top performers. That makes the Warriors no different than Lafayette Jefferson, which also has its full team intact. The Bronchos finished slightly better at 14th last year, but many believe they are a darkhorse in the title chase this year.
If, like me, you are always looking for that small-school Cinderella, try Blackford on for size. The Bruins finished 11th last year and, you guessed it, they have everybody back. Look for coach Ron Grogg���?�s crew to bring some excitement to Hartford City.
The first big test of the season may come during the Richmond Invitational at the very beginning of September. Later that month, we will learn a great deal from the big invitationals at Carmel and Ben Davis. And don���?�t forget, all of this doesn���?�t even take into account the powers up in ���?The Region�� like Portage (sixth last year), Crown Point (ninth), Chesterton (13th), and Valparaiso (19th). There is only about 40 years of tradition running around up there.
HoosierAuthority.com will have it all covered for you, and we do mean covered. You can look forward to getting far more than merely statistics from us this fall.
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