Jacob Davies paused for a few seconds, thoughts swirling in his head.
The piece of paper before him listed the first Class 5A cross country rankings of the season, and there was Emporia High ... in second behind St. Thomas Aquinas.
It wasn’t a stretch that Aquinas was ranked first, seeing as how the Saints are the defending 5A champions after edging past Emporia High last season.
It’s just that the Emporia High boys, who return their top six runners off last year’s squad, expect to be good this year — really good.
“They did win last year, and we got second last year, so that’s probably what they (the rankings) are going off of,” Davies said. “But we’ll show people what’s up.
“We’re expecting pretty big things.”
A quick look at the Kansas Class 5A cross country landscape shows that the top four teams from last season — Aquinas, Emporia, Kapaun Mt. Carmel and Bishop Carroll — return a massive amount of talent, making this year potentially the most competitive season in years.
Aquinas lost just three of its top seven runners from last year’s State champion team, while Carroll and Kapaun each return five of their top seven runners.
But the Spartans, who lost only their seventh man from last year’s State meet — Ryan Parks — return all five scorers from a season ago.
Still, EHS coach Mark Stanbrough isn’t about to etch the Spartans’ name into the State trophy just yet.
“Class 5A this year is going to be extremely tough,” Stanbrough said. “In a normal year after you’ve finished second in the state and you have your top six people back, you’re really looking good to win. But it’s going to be very tough in 5A.”
Even so, the success that potentially awaits the Spartans this season has not been ignored by the runners. In fact, it’s at the forefront of the team’s goals this season.
“We’ve been talking about winning State ever since ... the (State) race was over last year,” Davies said. “If we win, all of our hard work has paid off. I’d say that is going to be the most important thing.”
The Spartans have been hard at work making sure that goal is attainable. Summer training sessions were held seven times a week, and nearly every team member was present at every one. The team put in upwards of 50 miles a week during the summer, and when they weren’t running, they were thinking about it at one of their team breakfasts or campouts.
“We expect nothing but the best,” senior Tyler Anliker said. “As much as we put into it is as much as we’re going to get out of it.”
Stanbrough pointed to Davies and fellow seniors Mike Robinson and Asher Delmott as three that will be expected to lead the way this season for the Spartans, based on preseason workouts.
Davies was the top finisher at State last year, coming in 13th, while Delmott finished 18th and Robinson was 27th.
Also back are seniors Anliker (15th at State), Andrew Wayman (65th) and Andrew Heermann, as well as sophomore Lance Sadler (37th).
Giving the Spartans added depth is junior Tavo Dikin and freshmen Tyler Tilton, Jack Heim and Matt Wayman.
“You can’t get through the season with five guys,” Stanbrough said. “You’ve got to have six, seven, eight guys. The years that we’ve been good, we’ve had six, seven, eight guys in competition for those spots.”
Girls need productivity
While the Spartan boys might have the luxury of plenty of proven depth, the EHS girls are more of an unknown, except at the top.
Michaela Reynolds returns for her senior year after a frustrating junior season that was derailed by a rash of illnesses, including strep throat and tonsillitis.
Reynolds won the Class 5A State title as a sophomore in 2005, and early in the season last year looked prime to repeat that feat.
But then sickness set in, and Reynolds never was the same. Even by the time track season rolled around in the spring, she was still feeling some aftereffects of the time she missed training in the fall and early winter.
She now says she feels 100-percent recuperated, and with the return of her health comes a return of the high expectations she has set for herself.
“I think I’m back to where I was at the beginning of last season, if not better,” Reynolds said. “I feel like I’m ready to compete again and hopefully take a shot at the State title.
“I’m really excited about competing again.”
But while Reynolds appears primed to regain her title as one of the state’s top runners, the rest of the EHS girls squad must show improvement if the Lady Spartans are to come close to matching last year’s third-place State finish.
Gone are seniors Layne Moore and Heather Coe, while senior Abby Lake, junior Liliana Morales and sophomore Jenna Stanbrough return after placing 47th, 82nd and 80th at State a year ago, respectively.
Moving up to varsity this season will be junior Katie Weaver and sophomores Tanya Morales and Joslyn Barton.
“We have no freshmen this year, and so it’s the girls who have been with us,” coach Stanbrough said. “They need to step their game up and realize that they’re now on the varsity level, and they’ve got to compete.”
Both the boys and girls squads get their seasons started Saturday at the Manhattan Invitational.