Boys cross country: The Herald-News 2024 season preview

Here is a look at The Herald-News area boys cross country teams.

JOLIET CATHOLIC

Head coach: Jason Midlock (9th season)

Top returners: Chris Corsi, jr.; Colin Murphy, sr.

Top newcomer: Thomas Pawlowski, sr.

Worth noting: The Hilltoppers saw Nathan Ciarlette advance to the Class 2A state meet last season, but he has graduated. ... Coach Midlock: “We hope to improve our fitness and gain race experience as the season progresses.”

JOLIET CENTRAL

Head coach: Doug Cherry (36th season)

Top returners: Nathaniel Gabriel, so.; Erick Ortiz, jr.; Diego Santos, jr.; Jonathan Montesinos, sr.

Top newcomer: Jaydin Anderson, jr.; Emmanuel Ramos, so.; Braiden White, fr.

Worth noting: Gabriel qualified for state last spring in the 800-meter run for the Steelmen. ... Coach Cherry: “We are obviously a young team. Our No. 1 goal is to gain experience as a team and look to become more competitive as the season progresses.”

LINCOLN-WAY EAST

Head coach: Ryan Counihan (1st season)

Top returners: Sean Hanrahan, sr; Dylan Robinson, sr.

Key newcomers: Brendan Hanrahan, fr.; Luke Mueller, so.

Worth noting: The Griffins graduated five of their top seven runners from last season. ... Coach Counihan: “I am thrilled to begin my first year as the cross-country coach at Lincoln-Way East High School. It’s both an honor and a dream to be part of such a storied program. We have set ambitious goals for this season. Our primary focus is to improve continuously with each passing week as we approach our meets. We aim to support and inspire one another, working together to achieve our highest potential and reach our goals.”

MINOOKA

Head coach: Kevin Gummerson (26th season)

Top returners: Nico Cimino, jr.; Jase Cook, jr.; Alex Null, jr.; Nate Schalk, jr.; Sam Cernetich, sr.; Carter Wikoff, sr.

Key newcomer: Ryan Resar, fr.

Worth noting: Cimino was an All-Southwest Prairie Conference runner last season for the Indians. ... Coach Gummerson: “We are excited to see what this team can accomplish. Not qualifying as a team last year has been a motivating factor in the minds of these athletes all summer, and they are determined to take their performances up another level. This group of juniors has done a great of job of improving their level of training this summer, and I am looking forward to seeing that jump from this group. I really like the schedule that we have set up, and the key for this team is to learn from each one of these high-powered invitationals we attend.”

MORRIS

Head coach: Joe Blumberg (20th season)

Top returners: Cuyler Swanson, so.; Everett Swanson, so.; Nikita Hovious, jr.; Brodie Peterson, jr.; Jonathan Zarbock, jr.; Chase McConnell, jr.; Parker Fleetwood, jr.; Owen Noon, jr.; Hunter Russell, jr.

Top newcomers: Diego Lugo, fr.; Joe Emmerich, fr.

Worth noting: Morris returns 10 runners from last season’s Class 2A state-qualifying team. Cuyler Swanson was the individual regional champion, All-Interstate Eight Conference and all-state. Everett Swanson and Hovious were also all-conference. ... Coach Blumberg: “Cuyler Swanson can run in the mid to low 14s. For us to be a top-10 team, Everett Swanson, Nikita Hovious and Peterson need to close the gap on Cuyler. But it always comes down to the fifth, doesn’t it? We’ve been working with a group of guys that will scrape and claw to close the gap and attempt to get our 1-5 split under 120 seconds. If we can stay healthy, we can make a significant jump at Detweiller (Peoria) in November. But we are either going to win or learn. We are still young, and every single one of our top 10 will be back next season.”

PLAINFIELD CENTRAL

Head coach: Jeff Purdom (8th season)

Top returners: Ubaldo Rodriguez, sr.; Luke Adair, sr.; Micah Ruland, sr.; Adrian Castillo, sr.

Top newcomers: Dominik Barrios, so.; Joey Des Garennes, fr.; Ty Vitanovec, so.

Worth noting: The Wildcats qualified for sectionals last season. ... Coach Purdom: “Rodriguez and Adair were on the sectional-qualifying team last year. They had very strong summers and should give us a great duo up front. The team has big goals to race at the state meet.”

PLAINFIELD EAST

Head coach: Rich Gatz (13th season)

Top returners: John Berducido, jr.; Grant Withaeger, jr.; Tyler Fadenholz, sr.; Evan Breese, jr.; Tristan Dravo, jr.; Dominic Taylor, jr.; Nick Polzin, so.

Key newcomers: Chris Johnson, fr.; Raphael Ordenza, fr.; Alex Johnstone, jr.; Michael Osho, sr.

PLAINFIELD SOUTH

Head coach: Jason Crowe (19th season)

Top returners: Dylan Maloney, sr.; Riley Fink, sr.; Alex Batsala, so.; Dylan Buturusis, so.; Austin Cory, jr.

Top newcomers: Tyler Miller, jr.; Cole Maranowicz, sr.; Kellan Hernandez, so.; KC Coleman, jr.; Ivan Schultz, jr.; Brandon Hoffman, sr; Brady Prokop, sr.; Nick Calenciano, so.; Ethan Ensign, so.; Aron McCormick, sr.

Worth noting: The Cougars finished third at the Class 3A state meet last season. They also won their eighth Southwest Prairie Conference championship. Maloney was all-state, while Fink and Buturusis were both all-conference. ... Coach Crowe: “We are excited to have Dylan Maloney back one more year as our front-runner. Dylan has taken on the role as our senior leader and wants to lead his team to more championships. After the spring track and field season, I definitely see a strong pack of Buturusis, Batsala, Fink and Cory to form a tight pack not too far behind Maloney. As the season goes on, I am confident that we will jell together and find our rhythm during the championship season.”

ROMEOVILLE

Head coach: Jason Krausz (5th season)

Top returners: Danny Alvarez, sr.; Jacob Alvarado, jr.; Bryan Gallagos, jr.; Ricardo Hernandez, jr.

Top newcomers: Sam Molen, fr.; David Negrete, fr.; Gianmarcos Martinez, fr.

Worth noting: Alvarez is the top returning runner for the Spartans. ... Coach Krausz: “In such a tough conference, we are trying to improve as a team and be competitive against some of the state’s top runners. Many of our guys ran track this past year, so we’re looking at their improvement when running at the varsity level.”

SENECA

Head coach: Kim Foster (14th season)

Top returners: Sebastin Deering, sr.; Jaxon Finch sr.; Connor Pabian sr.; Landon Hebel so.; Alex Gagnon so.

Top newcomers: Brady Fort, fr.; Callum Wright, fr.; Kolton Rizzo, jr.; Pierce Gilbertson, so.

Worth noting: The Irish did not qualify any runners for the Class 1A state meet last season. ... Coach Foster: “Our team goals for the boys is to be competitive at conference, regionals and sectionals. It’s too early for us to set a goal where we hope to be place-wise, because we have several new runners who I hope will be very competitive as the season progresses.”