The recipe for winning a state championship in cross country is fairly simple. A team must have depth, some experience, and plenty of heart.
Entering the 2018 season, the Wildcats have all of the key ingredients. Now comes the difficult part of the journey – preparing physically and mentally for the challenge at the end of the road in November.
With Dr. Michael Gallagher '71 at the helm for his 14th season at head coach, the Cross Country Cats are ready to begin the adventure.
The 2018 squad has a nice mix of experience and youth. The program boasts a crop of 80 runners, including 11 seniors. The Wildcats return five runners from last year's state meet – Andrew Biehl, Nathan Soria, Matt Blouch, Nick Saul and Steve Zucca. The future looks bright, too, with 29 freshmen currently on the squad.
Gallagher expects his seniors to guide the team, and help the Wildcats realize their full potential. Saul, Soria, Biehl, and Blouch will be key to the Cats' success.
"I would love to see these four guys raise it up another notch," Gallagher said. "We have a couple other seniors who were a little dinged up last year – Pat Krebs and Dillon Bangasser – who could be very good. And any one of our other seniors could have a breakout year. Overall, it's nice to have a whole bunch of seniors."
Blouch finished top amongst the Wildcat participants in yesterday's open race at Penitentiary Glen in Kirtland, hosted by the Northeast Running Club. Blouch notched a time of 16:20 in the open race. Bangasser, coming off of a stress fracture last season, tallied a time of 18:40 in the race. Ben Crane, Logan Kijewski, and Tom Rochester are other Wildcats who have ran well in the preseason.
The Wildcats have a talented junior class, topped by Steve Zucca and Jack Mayer. Zucca enjoyed a great track and field season last spring and led the juniors at yesterday's race with a time of 17:09. Andrew Eicher, Jack Jusko, Nick Mulhern, Andrew Nosse, and Elliott Rodstrom are others to watch from this group of Cats.
A number of incoming sophomores have stood out in their first year in the Saint Ignatius program. Luke Chesney, Peter Fitzpatrick, Joje Maloney, Connor McAndrew, Sean Ward, and Aiden Monroe are all Wildcats to keep an eye on as the season progresses. Monroe topped the Saint Ignatius sophomore's in yesterday's race, clocking in at 19:15.
Incoming freshmen are always hard to project, but the Wildcats have talent galore coming into the program. Freddy Becker, Ryan Kachmarik, Matt Kelly, Will Leahy, Alex Paliga, and Sean Uhran have all impressed in the early goings of the preseason.
Looking at the schedule, the Wildcats' first meet will occur on August 25 in Canton. The Cross Country Cats will compete in the GlenOak Invitational, a good early season test. The Mentor Invitational the following week (the same day as the Wildcats' and Cardinals' showdown at Byers Field) will be another good meet.
The date to circle on the calendar is September 8. The Tiffin Carnival Race at Hedges Boyer Park always attracts the top teams from Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, giving a good preview of what to expect at the State Meet. Whatever teams do not attend the Tiffin race will certainly be at Hilliard Bradley's Meet of Champions on September 29, another big race.
The last race of the regular season, the Stow Invitational, will offer a preview of one of the Wildcats' top obstacles to a championship – the Hudson Explorers. After capturing last year's state title, Hudson is the team to beat in 2018.
As for goals this season, Gallagher has three written in permanent ink:
1. Win the Tiffin Carnival Race
2. Be in the top 3 at the Meet of Champions
3. Compete for a state title in November
For the Wildcats to capture the crown, depth will be critical. With a half a dozen teams in serious contention, the Wildcats will need one or two or three runners to run strong in the postseason.
"The guy who came out of the woodwork in 2015 was Jimmy Rogers. He had done okay, and his previous PR was 17 minutes, and all of the sudden he was running 15:55. That's huge," Gallagher explained. "One of the hallmarks of any successful cross country teams is depth. You've got to be able to rely on people when somebody comes down with a ding or a stress fracture, someone has to move in. Or if everyone is healthy, you need guys to push the top five guys so they don't want to lose their spot."