FORTVILLE — Graduation and a pair of roster changes may have hurt Mt. Vernon’s depth, but there’s still plenty of talented runners ready to continue the long history of success for the boys cross country program.
Veteran coach Bruce Kendall is in his 49th year of coaching and 44th as the leader of the Marauder harriers.
A year ago, the Marauders spent much of the season ranked in the state’s Top 25. They won the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet for the fourth straight time in 2022.
This year, they’ll expect to be good again, but they’ll have to do it without the graduated Tristan Trevino – a two-time state qualifier and last year’s individual champion in the Hancock County, Hoosier Heritage Conference and sectional meets. Trevino was a two-time individual champion at county and conference.
Kendall knew he’d be without Trevino, but he’ll also miss Landon Willis, last year’s No. 4 runner who moved to Martinsville and No. 8 runner Andres Langston, an all-state track star whose fall training will be focusing on sprints.
A key to last year’s success was depth, and though it took a bit of a hit, there’s plenty of talent returning.
Junior Ahmed Saleh and senior Colin Strachman are both coming off strong track and field seasons. They were All-HHC runners last year in cross country, too, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
“They’ve risen to the top,” Kendall said of his top two returnees. “Both had exceptionally good track seasons in the 3200 and 1600. They’ll be a force to reckon with.”
Isaiah Njau and Xaiden Jensen were both strong runners last season, along with Austin Baugh, who finished eighth and was the Marauders No. 3 runner at the county meet.
Kendall praised how far Njau, now a senior, has come since his freshman year. Jensen is one that Kendall said would have shined brighter if not for so many other good runners ahead of him.
Baugh is part of an impressive sophomore class that also included Caden Cassada and Cooper Hunziker, who’ll likely round out the team’s varsity seven.
“They’re a highly-motivated bunch,” Kendall said of his sophomores. “They’ve got one year under their belt and they’re coming.”
Both Cassada and Hunziker were among those that performed well during Mt. Vernon’s track and field season. They, along with Strachman, were part of the Marauders state-qualifying 4×800 relay team.
Mt. Vernon is not depleted of depth on its roster. Junior Brayden Strantz, senior Jackson Dayhoff and junior Matthew Cousar have either ran varsity races, or have shown they have the capabilities. Dayhoff won the junior varsity race at last year’s conference meet.
“It’s a good bunch,” Kendall said of his team. “We don’t have a low stick, but we have a lot of fairly low sticks.”
Mt. Vernon opens the season Saturday at the Valley Kickoff race in Terre Haute.
On Aug. 26, under a new format, the Marauders host an invitational that will also serve as the annual Hancock County Meet. They’ll be more than county schools competing and the event will be scored both as an invitational and county meet.
The IHSAA cross country postseason is under a new format this season, too.
The semi-state has been eliminated and the tourney series will include just a sectional and regional prior to the state meet. Mt. Vernon will continue to host the sectional, which will take place on Oct. 14. The regional is the following week in Shelbyville.
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2023 Mt. Vernon Boys Cross Country Schedule
Date;Opponent;Time
Aug. 12;at Valley Cross Kickoff (Terre Haute);9 a.m.
Aug. 19;at Plainfield Invite;8:30 a.m.
Aug. 26;Mt. Vernon Invite;9 a.m.
Sept. 2;at Marion Invitational (IWU);TBD
Sept. 9;at Eagle Classic (Brown County);8:30 a.m.
Sept. 16;at Golden Bear Invitational (Shelbyville);8:30 a.m.
Sept. 23;Hoosier Heritage Conference (Shelbyville);10 a.m.
Sept. 30;at Twilight Indiana Runner (Terre Haute);TBD
Oct. 7;at Eagle Invite (Taylor University);TBD
