Dave Stookey has two talented cross country teams. And maybe one day he will see them all together.

"I was commenting to my assistant the other day that since practice started, we haven't had all of either one of our teams there on any one day because of work, vacations or something," Stookey said. "We don't seem to get it all together. Things just haven't jelled yet. We have some promising young kids, and we are hoping things will come together."

For the boys, one of Stookey's top runners, Dusty Lytle, didn't come out for the team this year, another veteran moved to Florida, and he lost a talented freshman to a broken leg suffered during a skiing accident.

For the girls, Katie McCauley suffered an injury in the spring during track season and is slow to recover.

On the boys side, Stookey has a trio that might stack up against any threesome in the area in Pete Melendez, Jeff Moerchen and Jerad Stoffel. Filling in the No. 4 and No. 5 positions will be a little trickier for the Warriors.

"We have three guys (Moerchen, Melendenz, Stoffel) who can run with most people around here," Stookey said. "Our trouble will be coming up with that fourth and fifth person who is not a minute or more behind our third runner. We thought it was going to be just a fifth man we were looking for, but now we are looking for a fourth and fifth man. We are hoping we can find it because we have a pretty good front three.

"It puts a little hole in your plans," he said. "We tried to expand our summer program, but it didn't go exactly as we wanted. We had kids who ran more this year, but we have some who did very little."

New members to the team include: Rob Chalfant, Will Glaser, Andy Popenfoose, Andrew Waugh, Doug Weaver and Dustin Young.

The boys finished 6-3 last year and seventh in the regional.

McCauley was expected to lead a veteran team that also includes Alisha Henderson, Krista Betstul, Megan Hoffman, Brenda Wong and Laura Lundin. Newcomers include Julie Blakeslee, Stephanie Huffman and Mandie Sawyer.

"She is still battling," Stookey said of McCauley. "She is not back full strength at all. She has not been able to complete a practice since we started. She is definitely someone who we need to have in there.

"We have a nucleus of girls who could run with most of the teams around," he said. "We have some girls who didn't run last year who are running this year. Our goal is to get to the state. It is still our goal, but it will be tough going. That will continue to be our goal until we get there. It has been 10 years since we have had a team at the state, so we feel like it is time."

The girls were 5-4 in 1997 and sixth in the regional.

Prep Cross Country Capsules

WARSAW

Boys

Coach: Jeff Grose

1997 finish: 5-1 (second) in the NLC; 6th in the regional

Returners: Don Kennedy, Chris Gackenheimer, Jacob Sweatland, Michael Jenks, Justin Rice

New members:

Losses: David Hoffert, Greg Patrick, Will Woodward

Outlook: Warsaw finished just one spot away from advancing to the semistate last year. Hoffert went to semistate as an individual. Loss of Hoffert, Patrick, Woodward will hurt the Tigers, but Kennedy, Rice and Jenks all ran in the top seven last year.

Coach's Comment: "We had a lot of leadership last year, and I think it has carried over to this year. I would be surprised if we finished No. 2 in the conference again this year. It is sort of a rebuilding year. As far as athletic ability and having top runners, we just won't have those this year like we have seen. I expect great things from these kids in the next couple of years."

Girls

Coach: Paul Sibray

1997 finish: 0-6; 7th in conference; 7th in sectional

Team members: Summer Boyd, Hillary Barlow, Amy Robertson, Julie Wilhite, Kim Fluke, Andria Harrold, Rebecca Harman, Rachel Cullison (injured), Christy Bassford (injured)

Losses: Ashley Blue

Outlook: The Tigers are looking to add a better team to a pretty good individual runner in Boyd. Boyd has advanced to the regional the past two years and is looking to make it to the state this year.

Coach's Comment: "We would like to have Summer and Hillary running up front, and the rest of the pack not far behind. We would like to improve on our conference finish, which there is no way to go, but up."

TIPPECANOE VALLEY

Boys

Coach: Terry Screeton

1997 finish: 2-10; 7th in conference, 11th in sectional

Returners: Kevin Hileman, Ian Fawley, David Tilden

Losses: none

Outlook: Valley had only five runners a year ago, but good freshman class plus no graduation losses pushes that number to nine this year. Hileman and Fawley were Valley's No. 1 and No. 2 runners last year.

Coach's Comment: "We are expecting good things out of those two (Hileman and Fawley). We are going to be awfully young this year, but we are going to be better. We have a good freshman class coming through who are serious about running."

Girls

Coach: Terry Screeton

1997 finish: 3rd in sectional, 6th in regional; 3rd in conference

Team Members: Carrie Whetstone, Alysa Vancleave, Tiffany Norris, Steph Wilcox, Tamar Strohschein, Emily Jackson, Sarah Kindig, Jayme McCalla

Losses: Jenny Day, Kelly Camp, Julia Honig

Outlook: Loss of Day will be felt, but depth will keep the Vikings competitive. Valley missed advancing to the semistate by one spot last year.

Coach's Comment: "We should be real solid. We will have a tight-packed team. We have six or seven girls who are darned near equal. It will make for a good season."

WHITKO

Boys

Coach: Steve Hoopingarner

1997 finish: 3rd in conference; 5th in sectional; 10th in regional

Team members: Mike McKeighen, Tylen Hull, Phil Fetro, Daryl Nicodemus, Micah Moncrief, Scott Irvin, Greg Kessie, Zach Kessie, Josh Hoffman, Adam Bower, Eric Bradford, Pat Cripe

Losses: Jared Deckena

Outlook: Whitko lost only one runner from a talented team last year and are looking to get back to the regional this year.

Coach's Comment: "They should have a good year. They have worked hard this summer. We are excited about the upcoming season. You can tell the improvement from last year to this year."

Girls

Coach: Steve Hoopingarner

Team members: Rachel Lehman, Tiffany Obregon, Rita Wilkinson, Natalie Ridenour, Madeline Prist, Gretchen Imhoff, Jamie Jones, Jodi Frantz, Angel Puckett, Bunny Puckett

Losses: Brooke Southworth (moved)

Outlook: Whitko's top runner from last year, Southworth, has moved and a few other runners from last year decided not to come out, but a group of young runners have the Wildcats confident about improving this year.

Coach's Comment: "First, we are working to get into condition. Last year, we didn't have one of our better seasons. We have a lot of young team members this year. We are just going to work at it and see where we end up."

MANCHESTER

Boys

Coach: Claude Markstahler

1997 finish: 2-2; 2nd in conference; 6th in sectional

Team members: Josh Hileman, Jan Riccus, Luke Thompson, Scott Holbert, Ross Fawley, Ryan Accetta, Travis Thompson, Lee Shafer, B.J. Snow, Derek Miller, D.J. Unger, Tom Wion, Tyler Selleck, Kyle Williams, Adam Gaier, Nate Kerr, Justin Bowers

Losses: Jeremy Stacy, Daniel Walter

Outlook: The Squires are solid in the top three positions, but after that there are questions for the Squires. The loss of Jeremy Stacy will be felt, but Manchester has several juniors and sophomores vying for running time and look to add depth.

Coach's Comment: "I really don't know what to expect. Right now, I don't know if I could pick (top) five in a row. I could probably give you the top three, and the next four runners could vary. They are very, very close. There are a lot of openings for the No. 4, 5 and 6 runners."

Girls

Coach: Claude Markstahler

1997 finish: 2-2; 6th in conference; 8th in sectional

Team members: Cassie Markstahler, Shay Knecht, Christy Markstahler, Jocelyn Warren, Lydia Flory, Marie Weller, Brooke Spann

Losses: Marissa Knecht

Outlook: Only Knecht graduated from last year's team. A good freshman class looks to have the Squires in position for as good, if not better season.

Coach's Comment: "As far as total team, we are starting out stronger than we finished last year. We didn't exactly have a strong team last year, but we should be in better shape all the way around this year.

TRITON

Boys

Coach: Kurt Kreft

1997 finish: 8-2; 3rd in conference; 5th in sectional

Team members: Mason McIntyre, Wes Rettinger, Matt Savill, Justin Vining, Jason Lemler, Jason Bules, Bryan Bell, Brandon Zeider, Chris Kaufman, Matt Yankovich, Eric Lemler, Nate Gebhart, Ben Moore, Mark Walter, Ryan Klotz, Rob Salyer

Losses: none

Outlook: With McIntyre leading the way, Triton appears headed to an uncharted area as the favorites in a lot of races. The Trojans didn't lose a single runner off of last year's regional team and gained three freshmen and some confidence from last season.

Coach's Comment: "I think they will be better. We are stronger, and we are doing more workouts with more hill work, and we have added cycling into the program. We are hoping to place in the top five at regional and make it to semistate. We have added a couple of freshmen who should help us right off. I am excited. I think we have a chance to do things at Triton that we haven't done in a long, long time."

Girls

Coach: Kurt Kreft

1997 finish: 6-4, 1st in conference, 6th in sectional

Team members: Reghan Kreft, Shelly Miller, Cassie McIntyre, Devan Marsh, Kylie Carter, Cara Wampler, Gwen Roberts, Sissten Christian, Crystal Maahs, Danielle Kreft, Melissa Virgil

Losses: Liz Miller, Lissa Bradley (moved to North Judson)

Outlook: Triton won the Northern State Conference meet for the first time in school history behind the first-place individual effort of Kreft. Triton just missed out on advancing to regional, and a talented slew of freshmen will be a big key to the Trojans' success this year.

Coach's Comment: "Hopefully, they will at least return to regional. We are not real deep with only 10 girls. If we have any injuries, we could be hurting. We gained three freshmen, and they are probably as good if not better than the one's we lost. The freshmen girls will have to step up for us to be successful this year. We have good leadership with Reaghan and Shelly."

NORTHWOOD

Boys

Coach: Mark Mikel

1997 finish: 7-9; 0-6 in the conference

Team members: Mark Davidhizar, Aaron Hoover, Andy Rummell, Jonathan Lechlitner, Jason Meyers, Matt Miller, Eric Shepherd

Losses: none

Girls

Coach: Kirt Hunsberger

1997 finish: 10-6; 3-3 in the conference

Team members: Grace Bonewitz, Angie Callander, Angie Zell, Steph Carner, Teri Scheuller

Losses: Amanda Hoover, Brooke Tobias

Outlook: Tobias was NorthWood's No. 1 runner last season and her loss will hurt.# [[In-content Ad]]