2024 Sauk Valley Media boys cross country preview capsules

Bureau Valley

Coach: Bob Benck

Top returners: Adrian Gallardo, jr.; Landon Hulsing, sr.; Maddox Moore, jr.; Nathan Siri, sr.; Kaleb Workman, sr.

Worth noting: Gallardo qualified for sectionals by placing 31st in the Bureau Valley Regional. He placed 25th in the Three Rivers Conference Meet and 76th in the Oregon Sectional. Moore finished 36th in the Three Rivers Meet and 36th in the Bureau Valley Regional.

Dixon

Coach: Simon Thorpe (fifth season)

Returning varsity: Aaron Conderman, sr.; Dean Geiger, so.; Averick Wiseman, so.; Keegan Shirley, jr.; Westin Conatser, jr.; Noah Terviel, jr.; Hayden Fulton, sr.

Worth noting: Dixon returns all of its runners from last year’s 19th-place finish at state. The Dukes won the Sycamore Invite with a team score of 50 on Tuesday, led by Wiseman (15:56) and Conder (16:02), who finished fourth and fifth.

Eastland

Coach: Kim Haverland

Varsity runners: Landon Frederick, sr.; Mayson Meinert, sr.; Micah Stringini, so.; Kole Hauptman, so.

Key varsity newcomer: Carson Stoner, fr.

Worth noting: Frederick led the team with a 20:23.06 at the Eastland Invitational on Sept. 4.

Erie-Prophetstown

Coach: Elizabeth Green (12th season)

Key varsity newcomers: Aidan Jepson, sr.; Alastaire Sweetser, jr.; Justin Wainscott, jr.; Nathan Punke, so.; Elijah Foster, so.; Braedon Punke, fr.; Elijah Franzen, fr.

Worth noting: The team looks to reorganize without any returning varsity runner after qualifying for state last season. Former Panthers Charles Link, Tyson Skinner, Andrew and Alex Bomleny run for Sauk Valley Community College.

Forreston-Polo

Coach: Tony Hardin (fifth season)

Returning varsity: Kam Grobe, sr; Kale Grobe, sr; Noah Genandt, jr; Taryn Heather, jr; Joey Rowland, jr; Jared Merkel, so.

Key varsity newcomers: Byron Grobe, jr; Landen Graden, fr; Casen Grobe, fr; Eli Weilacher, fr

Worth noting: The team was second at the NUIC Meet last season and qualified for sectionals for the first time in 16 years. It returns all runners from the sectional. “Our strength will come in our pack,” coach Hardin said. “If they can stick together, they will get stronger and stronger.”

Morrison

Coach: Chad Brackemeyer (ninth season)

Key returners: Isaiah McDearmon, sr.; Gavin Streets Wood, sr.

Key varsity newcomers: Bryar Kuehl, fr.

Worth noting: McDearmon qualified for the sectional meet last season. “I’m excited to see the athletes put in the hard work and chase after their goals,” Brackemeyer said.

Newman

Coach: Patrick Warkins (12th season)

Varsity runners: Richardo Hernandez, jr.; Max Sagal, so.

Worth noting: Coach Warkins said this will be a down year with only two runners out for the team after it finished 21st at state last season. “I knew we would be short of runners this year because we did not have a large group coming from middle school,” he said, “but not this bad.”

Oregon

Coach: Gabe Poser (fourth season)

Returning varsity: Daniel Gonzalez, jr.; Caleb Brooks,sr.; Aidan Guida, sr.

Worth noting: “Daniel Gonzalez is working harder and performing better than ever already,” Poser said. “Watch for huge improvements from him.”

Rock Falls

Coach: Mark Truesdell (21st season)

Varsity runners: Christian Cid, sr.; Anthony Valdivia, sr.; Gunnar Damhoff, sr.; Ian Finney, jr.; Gabe Moyer, jr.; Rylan Jordan, so.; Michael Kopitas, so.; Jeffrey Sommer, jr.; Jace Westlund, so.; Keith Ross, fr.; Dashawn Boyd, fr.

Worth noting: Rock Falls was fifth at the regional and 13th at the sectional as a team last season. … Moyer led the team with a 17th-place finish at the Sycamore Invite on Tuesday in 16:53.

Sterling

Coach: Mark Johnson (1st season)

Returning varsity: Aalin Schmidt, sr.; Parker Blakeslee, sr.; Charles Johnson, jr.

Key varsity newcomers: Denver Sandrock, so.; Gavin Staats, jr., Isaiah Rojop, so.

Worth noting: Sterling was second at last year’s Western Big 6 Conference Meet and qualified for state as a team, placing 23rd. Graduated senior Dale Johnson placed third at state. “We’re a young team, so there will be a lot of growth to be seen from the beginning of the season to the end,” coach Johnson said. “We do have a few returning varsity runners who had the experience of running at the state meet last year, and they will be motivated to have that experience once again.”

West Carroll

Coach: Chris McDermott (third season)

Returning varsity: Roscoe Davies, jr.; Joey Blasen, jr.; Ben Feick, so.; Brody Leitzen, so.

Key varsity newcomers: Jacen Anderson, so., Kyle Longnecker, fr.

Worth noting: Davies was 84th at state last season. … McDermott said Davies and Leitzen have been running well together. “Joey Blasen had a big jump this past track season, and he has been running with newcomer Jacen Anderson,” he said. “If they are able to run well, they could find themselves running near that lead pack.”