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Bureau Valley
Coach: Bob Benck
Key returners: Adrian Gallardo, so.; Maddox Moore, so.
Worthy of note: The Storm have big shoes to fill with the graduation of state qualifier/BCR Runner of the Year Elijah House (now at Heartland College) and Ben Roth. Sophomore Adria Gallardo will step in to the No. 1 position. He finished 20th in the Three Rivers Meet, 22nd at the Seneca Regional and 67th at the Oregon Sectional. Moore will also be counted on to fill a bigger role as a sophomore. He was ranked among the top area runners in the 1600 meters and 3200 meters in track this spring. ... Juniors Nathan Siri and Landon Hulsing and sophomore Andrew Roth return with the Storm adding freshmen Alex Attig, Dominic Carton, Alex Gallardo, Jordan Linley and Jaden Macklin.
Princeton
Coach: Pat Hodge.
Key returners: Augustus Swanson, so.; Kamden Wahlgren, jr.
Key newcomers: Dawson Lambert, jr., Ethan Mallery, fr., Tyler VandeVenter, fr.
Worthy of note: Swanson returns as the No. 1 runner off a strong freshman season, qualifying for sectionals (74th). He finished 19th at conference and at regional and 74th at sectional. After competing in a national wrestling tournament, Swanson got back in the summer running and said he is excited to “improve my times from last year.” ... Wahlgren is “someone that we’ve always been able to count on being there and giving it his best effort,” Hodge said. ... Lambert rejoins the team after earning a letterwinner in 2021. ... VandeVenter, who will also be playing soccer, placed 20th in the IESA High Sectional in 2022. He’s joined by classmates Ethan Mallery (58th in IESA Sectional) and Cruz Rodriguez “Fortunately we have a nice sized group of freshmen. We should be able to field a team when we need to, although we’ll miss Tyler when he’s competing with the soccer team. Overall, we should have an improved season even if we are very young,” Hodge said. ... The Tigers run their first meet Saturday at the Oregon Open at 9 a.m.
St. Bede
Coach: Marty Makransky
Key returners: Haiden Ator, jr.; Greyson Marincic, jr.
Key newcomer: Eric Du, so.
Worthy of note: Marincic and Ator both gained experience for the Bruins last season. Marincic, who was 38th in the TRAC last year, 30th at regional. He was a state track qualifier in the 300 hurdles this spring. “I’d like to see them qualify for sectional as individuals,” Makransky said. “Haiden has gotten over his injuries (from last season) and he ran some miles this summer, so he’s looking better and I’m hoping he can qualify. Greyson definitely should qualify.” ... Du, an exchange student from China, ran the 800 in track in the spring, but he’s never run more than a mile in a race.
Hall
Coach: Tom Keegan
Top returners: Eri Martinez, jr.; Joseph Caracheo, so.
Key newcomers: William Pikula, fr.
Worth noting: The Red Devils have a small roster with only three runners. “For those who are returning, we are looking for continued improvement from where they left off last year,” Keegan said. “Hopefully, we can develop over the course of the year to where we can send some individuals onto the sectional level.”
Amboy co-op
Coach: Michael Robinson
Top returners: None
Key newcomers: Brysen Full, jr.; Jhett Cowser, fr.
Worth noting: The Clippers lost a strong group of runners from last year, led by Kyler McNinch, who qualified for sectional and narrowly missed a state berth. However, Robinson said Full and LaMoille’s Cowser should have success. “Brysen Full and Jhett Cowser could end up surprising people this year,” he said.