One main theme stood out when speaking to local boys cross country coaches about the upcoming season — uncertainty.
Frontier went unbeaten in 2018, but lost some top runners to graduation. Most notable among them was top local runner Carsten Carey, as well as fellow standout Alex Sharp. Still, the Red Hawks return a solid core of 16 runners from a year ago.
Frontier added 11 runners to the program, giving the team the largest squad in the area.
“Hoping that the core from last year can step up,” veteran Frontier head coach Bob Smith said. “The league will be very competitive. Anything can happen.”
One team looking to challenge Frontier in the Pioneer North is Mahar.
Coach Ben Just is cautiously optimistic about the group he has, which is led by Thor Mead. The team’s top runner was just three places out of going to the state tournament in 2018.
Mead had a great race last year in the Western Mass. finals, just missing the cutoff to qualify and move on. The goal is for him to get to that next level this season.
“We’ll work on him, we’ll get his time down,” Just said. “My goal for him is to crack that top 10 individual finishers.”
Another runner to watch is freshman Liam DiDonato, who ran some great times in the 800-meters during spring track. Just said he’s working on the adjustment to distance running, but with some attention, he believes DiDonato can develop into a really strong No. 2 runner.
“We have a young team which is always unpredictable,” Just said. “We have guys who aren’t afraid to work. We’re going to have a pretty good season.”
Greenfield also graduated a plethora of top runners, with coach Stu Elliott now looking to see who will step up.
Alex Tirrell is the lone senior, and as is the case with most young teams, Elliott is looking to develop his runners, hoping they grow stronger as the year goes on.
“We have to learn how to run as individuals,” Elliott said. “We have to learn how to get ourselves through distance runs. It’ll be a few races before we settle into our spots.”
Over at Mohawk Trail, sophomore Dennis Simmons should be one of the top runners in the area this fall. Simmons has impressed since bursting onto the scene as a middle-schooler, and he’s continued to improved his times this fall.
Pioneer sports just five runners on the boys side, two in seventh grade, with Noah DeRuiter and Brian Bodenstein the lone upperclassmen for the Panthers.
Frontier
COACH: Bob Smith
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Pioneer North/2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 15-0
RETURNING PLAYERS: Seniors — Ryan Huit, KC Mattson, Brett Robinson. Juniors — Tom Alber, Gehrig Brynda, Elias Goodwin, Oliver Sackrey, Kai Sharp. Sophomores — Patrick Boyden, Chase Dennie. Freshmen — Erich Brown. Eighth Graders — Alex Carey, Jack Carey, Sam Keyes, Amory Maxey, Ben Sackrey.
NEWCOMERS: Seniors — Noah Babb, Fisher Talbot-Hills. Juniors — Aden Gray, Maxfield Rubin. Sophomores — Leo Franceschi. Freshmen — Danny Fellows, Asa Jackson. Eighth Graders — Caleb McDaniel. Seventh Graders — Owen Babb, Oliver Brown, Mason Smith.
Greenfield
COACH: Stu Elliott
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Pioneer North/2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 8-3
Roster: Seniors — Alex Tirrell. Juniors — Matt Conway. Sophomores — Erick Badillo, Andy Bostrom, Liviu Mihailcenco, Gianni Passiglia, Emanuel Rosca, Max Warner, Ben Wu, Taha Hamayun, Fyodor Michael. Freshmen — Dragos Rosca, Jonah Schofield. Eighth Graders — Jackson Caron, Luke Scotera, Tristan Toomey.
Mahar
COACH: Ben Just
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Pioneer North/2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 5-9
ROSTER: Seniors — Thor Mead, Alexander Plotner. Sophomores — Cirdan Kearns, Owen Ryan. Freshman — Daniel Kidwell, Liam DiDonato. Eigth graders — Jeffrey LaPlante, Michael Gemelli, Jase Bedard. Seventh graders — Marshall Ames.
Mohawk Trail
COACH: Joe Chadwick
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Pioneer North/2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 7-5
ROSTER: Juniors — Quinton Romer. Sophomores — Sean O’Dea, Dennis Simmons. Eight Graders — Vincent Gauthier. Seventh Graders — Bobby Ellis.
Pioneer
COACH: Gina Johnson
LEAGUE/DIVISION: Pioneer North/2
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 2-6
ROSTER: Seniors — Brian Bodenstein. Juniors — Noah DeRuiter. Freshmen — Jonathon Bodenstein. Seventh Graders — Benjamin Goodwin, Ezekiel Singh.