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Princeton
Coach: Pat Hodge
Key returners: Ella Grey, jr.; Avery Waca, so.
Key newcomers: Ruby Acker, fr.; Payton Frueh, fr.; Alexandra Waca, fr.
Worthy of note: The Tigresses lost two key runners with the graduation of two-time BCR Runner of the Year Lexi Bohms and Kiana Brokaw, both all-conference runners. Grey (49th in 3 Rivers; 66th-Regional in 2021) and Avery Waca (28th in 3 Rivers; 43rd in regional in 2022) will lead the freshmen to keep PHS on course. Acker (28th), Frueh (41st) and Alexandra Waca (83rd) all competed in IESA sectionals in 2022. “Graduating two all-conference runners in Lexi Bohms and Kiana Brokaw obviously hurts us. It’s too bad that they weren’t around for another year as we have a nice little group of freshmen coming in,” Hodge said. ”Avery had a solid rookie year in ‘22 and Ella was a consistent performer for us, too. Time will tell exactly where Ruby, Payton, and Alexandra compare to what we graduated, but if we have improvement from our two returning runners and the three freshmen run comparatively as well as they did at Logan, we should be a stronger overall team than last year. We could use a few more runners though as we won’t have a team if one girl is missing at a given meet.” ... Hodge is in his 37th years as the PHS girls coach.
Bureau Valley
Coach: Bob Benck
Worthy of note: Freshman Leah House is the lone runner for the Storm this year. They had no girls last year. She is the sister of reigning BCR Boys Runner of the Year, Elijah House.
St. Bede
Coach: Marty Makransky
Top returners: Sierah Shaver, sr.
Key newcomer: Kennedy Nguyen, sr.
Worth noting: Shaver ran for the Bruins last season, and had a successful track season in the spring, helping St. Bede’s 4x100-meter and 4x200 relays to sectional titles and state medals. “I think [Shaver] could qualify for sectional for sure,” Makransky said. “She’s a scrappy athlete.” ... Nguyen, an exchange student from Vietnam, is an inexperienced runner, Makransky said.
Hall
Coach: Tom Keegan
Top returners: Evelyn Castelan, so.; Jade Wangelin, so.
Worth noting: A pair of sophomores will run for the Red Devils this fall. “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
Coach: Michael Robinson
Top returners: Natalie Pratt, jr.; Addison Pertell, jr.; Samantha Nauman, so.; Anna Carlson, so.
Key newcomers: Bella Yanos, so.
Worth noting: The Clippers are experienced with four of the five runners back from last season. Robinson said Yanos could provide a spark. “As always, our goal is to improve over the course of the season and give ourselves our best shot for the postseason,” he said.