ALMOST READY TO HIT THE TRAIL; MOST AREA SCHOOLS OPEN CROSS COUNTRY SEASON THIS WEEKEND

It was another successful season for area high school cross country teams last year as Perryville and Kelly both sent entire teams to state while Cape Girardeau Central, Notre Dame, Jackson and Advance all had individual qualifiers.

This season figures to again feature plenty of success for most of the local squads and there is even another new program as Meadow Heights is fielding teams for the first time, joining Oak Ridge, which began its program last year.

Following is a look at the area teams as the season gets going this week. All of the teams except Notre Dame and Meadow Heights begin the season Saturday in the annual Jackson Invitational. Notre Dame will also compete there but the school will actually open the campaign Wednesday at Murphysboro, Ill. Meadow Heights won't start until Sept. 25 at Farmington.

Cape Central

Central's teams continue to prosper under coach Mark Hahn. The boys have won four SEMO conference titles in a row and narrowly missed out on a Class 4A state team berth last year. The girls have won two straight conference crowns but had their strong of two successive state team appearances ended last year.

"We've had a pretty good run the last few years," said Hahn.

Hahn looks for more success this year, although his squads will take on different looks. While the girls are loaded with top returning runners, the boys were hit hard by graduation.

Central's boys graduated six varsity lettermen from a year ago, including three state qualifiers. Junior Mike Gerber is the only runner among last season's top five who returns.

Other returning lettermen are senior Josh Revelle and sophomores Jake Knepp and Alex Ramsey. Also looking good, said Hahn, is junior Trevor Duncan, who has been a track athlete but played football in the fall last year.

Also battling to fill out the seven-member varsity lineup are junior Andrew Moreton and sophomore Alex Schneider.

Central's girls lost only two varsity runners from last year and should be one of the area's premier teams.

The Lady Tigers' only state qualifier last year returns in the form of senior Kim Pancoast, the 2000 conference champion.

Other top varsity runners back from a year ago, who all have earned all-conference honors in their careers, are junior Whitney Pingel and seniors Magin Patrick and Rachel Sprigg. Pingel was the squad's No. 2 runner last season, behind Pancoast.

Sophomores Cassie Kipper and Meagan Freeze are other returning letterwinners while also contending for positions are junior Sara Broom and promising freshmen Jennifer Pancoast and Holly Shaffer.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame has a pair of new coaches, including Bill Davis, who spent the past 23 years at Kelly and turned that program into one of the state's best on the small-school level. Davis and Ben Johnson, a former runner at Murray State, will serve as co-coaches.

"It was tough to leave kids at Kelly, but this is a fresh change and I like a challenge," said Davis.

Both Notre Dame teams placed third in the 2A district meet last year, missing out on a state berth by just one spot, and Davis believes they can be contenders this season, although both squads will be young.

Notre Dame's boys return a state qualifier in junior David Unterreiner while other returning varsity runners are senior Marcus LeGrand and sophomores Allen Frey and Steven Hendricks. Davis is also looking for good things from sophomores Ryan Roggow and Brian Steele.

On the girls side, Notre Dame lost four-year state participant Susan Judd but return a pair of state qualifiers in junior Sarah Unterreiner and sophomore Kasie Essner.

Other returning varsity runners are senior Toni Horrell and sophomore Brittney Little. Also contending for positions are junior Annette Horrell; sophomores Megan Holloway and Emily Ivers; and freshmen Megan Rosenquist and Sarah Gaines.

Jackson

Both Jackson teams feature quite a few returning varsity runners but there is also plenty of youth and inexperience, which has coach Andrea Talley and her squads facing a challenge.

"We've got 18 freshmen girls and seven freshmen boys out of 53 total runners," said Talley. "We've got a lot of newcomers who haven't run before so it's kind of a wait and see thing, but I still think we can do pretty well."

An extremely young girls team has only two seniors and two juniors, but three of those are returning 4A state qualifiers: seniors Carol Koenig and Krista Mouser, and junior Nicole Fadler. Sophomore Kristin Smith also is back from last year's varsity lineup.

Also challenging for varsity sports are junior Laura Bricknell and sophomores Chelsea Brown and Angela Welker, who were all on last year's JV. Talley is also high on several talented freshmen.

There are seven seniors on the boys side, including returning varsity runners Josh Minson, Jody Ressel and Michael Birk. Junior Joe Golightly is the only returning state qualifier.

Also contending for varsity berths are seniors Ricky Feiner, Tyler Murphy, Paul Gholson and Billy Andrews, along with junior Dusty Smith. All five were on last year's JV. Several freshmen are also pushing for spots.

Perryville

Perryville's boys have had two straight impressive seasons, winning consecutive Jefferson County Conference titles and qualifying for the 3A state meet both years, including a district title in 2000. Despite having only six runners, coach Joe Dandridge looks for more good things.

"We can't afford to get anybody injured or burned out, but barring that, we should have a good season," he said.

The Pirates return four runners from last year's state team, including junior Kent Hadler, who was fifth in the district. Others back are seniors Tim Chitwood, Curt Brewer and Brian Schlichting while rounding out the squad are sophomore Dustin Peer and freshman Kyle Trapp.

On the girls side, things are a bit more up in the air as only junior Hannah Steffens returns. She missed qualifying for state last year by two places. Other runners, who have never competed before, are senior Amanda Epsy; junior Kayla Thole; sophomores Stacey Mattingly and Niki Gemoules; and freshman Casey Schamburg.

Kelly

Like Notre Dame, Kelly also has a pair of new co-coaches in the husband-wife team of John and Janie Merrick.

John has been an assistant coach at Kelly in various sports in the past while Jan spent the past 31 years coaching several sports at Sikeston, where she continues to teach on a part-time basis.

"We're looking forward to the season," said Janie Merrick. "Bill Davis set the pattern there and built such a great program."

Kelly's boys should be in for a banner season as they return six of their seven varsity runners off a team that finished 4th in last year's 2A state meet.

The Hawks will be led by senior Adam Daughhetee, the defending district champion who is also a two-team state track champion in the 1,600-meters. Also back from last year's varsity are seniors Ashley Hahn, Adam Lofton and Lance Ferrell; junior Lance Scheffer; and sophomore Trey Simmons. Lofton, Hahn and Scheffer placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the district a year ago.

The Merricks are also high on junior Todd Brucker, sophomore Andrew Mothershead and three freshmen: Mike Glastetter, Tyler Long and Derek Felter.

Kelly's girls return two state qualifiers in junior Shannon Lawson and sophomore Katie Heeb while also back are juniors Katrena Martin, Christina New and Natalie Walter. Others expected to push for varsity positions are junior Julia Vetter, sophomores Janessa Burford and Ashley Seyer, and freshmen Jessica Wimberly.

Advance

Nancy Lanpher, who has taught at Advance for 16 years but never coached a sport, takes over the cross country program.

"It's exciting, and I'm hopeful about the season," she said.

The boys are bolstered by four returning runners: seniors Chris Walker and Justin Kennedy; junior Reade Keene; and sophomore Joseph Maroni. Newcomers are juniors Levi Lanpher and Zac Hudson; sophomore Ace Cloninger; and freshman Garrett Stevens.

On the girls side, returning state qualifier Lisa Georger, a senior, leads the way. Senior Missy Minton, a first-year runner, and freshman Elizabeth Veale round out the squad.

Oak Ridge

Coach Jason Niswonger likes the way his young program is coming together.

"I think we were real successful for our first year," he said. "We built some interest in the program and had some runners almost make it to state. We want to keep improving."

Oak Ridge has no senior boys. Junior Alex Fadler missed the 1A state meet by four spots a year ago. Other returning runners are junior Cory Woods and three sophomores: Tyler Myers, Josh Boyd and Terry Bogenpohl. Niswonger is also high on sophomore Chris Hrabik.

On the girls side, Niswonger is happy to have a full squad, which was not the case last year. Sophomore Alicia Kellogg, who missed state by five spots as a freshman, is the lone returner. Niswonger is also counting on the likes of senior Lindsay Robinson, junior Susan McClard, sophomore Melinda Schoen and freshmen Alisha Hobeck and Hailey Ponder.

Meadow Heights

Coach Jerry Tucker has been pleased with the turnout for his brand-new program that will participate in a limited schedule, with five meets. He said 17 runners including 13 boys were on hand for most of the early workouts.

"There's been some pretty good interest and hopefully that will pick up even more because we've got some time before our first meet," said Tucker. "The kids really seem to be excited about running."

Senior Billy Lema, who has made his mark in area sports circles as a rodeo competitor, has been looking strong, according to Tucker. The coach also is high on the likes of senior Joe Jordan, junior Derek Collier, sophomore Brad Adams and freshman Joel Hahs.

On the girls side, participating are sophomore Michelle Rock and three freshmen: twins Stacey and Stephanie Edwards, along with Megan Warner.