Senior leadership is what Emporia State expects out of both sides of its cross country team this year as the Hornets prepare to get their season started Friday at Jones Park.
On the men’s side, Will Hohmeier will be back after becoming the Hornets’ top runner in last season’s final two events. For the women, Kathryn Davison is relishing something she’s not used to — a healthy preseason — as she attempts to build on last year’s encouraging finish.
The ESU men are picked to finish just sixth out of eight squads in the MIAA’s preseason poll after finishing fifth last year.
“We want to be in the top half, top four,” ESU coach Dave Harris said. “It’s not gonna be easy in the conference; it never is. And then in the region, we did really well in the region last year. We got fifth out of 22 teams. We have a goal to be in that top five now — not just fifth, but inside that.”
In order to pull that off, the Hornets will need strong runs behind their top two returners, Hohmeier and Asher Delmott. Hohmeier finished as the Hornets’ top runner for the first time at last year’s MIAA championships, finishing 12th there to earn an all-league honorable mention. He went on to finish 22nd at regionals, which was also a team-leading performance.
This year, Hohmeier is taking on the role of being a mentor to a roster with plenty of newcomers.
“Kind of have to show them the way and make sure they’re going and doing the workouts,” he said. “... They need to understand when it’s easy day and (to) take your time or whatever, and then on hard days, push yourself and strive to get better.”
Delmott, a junior, will try to make up some of the production the Hornets lose with the departure of his brother, Skyler, an honorable mention MIAA pick last year. Asher Delmott finished 34th at the MIAA meet and 39th at regionals.
Harris figures the Hornets’ No. 3 runner on the men’s side will be Josh Lacer, a transfer from Johnson County Community College.
“He’s been in college two years, so he should be that third guy,” Harris said. “After that, it strictly is the recruits, the freshmen and the guys who have been in this program. This should be their time now. This should be their time to really make a difference. And we’re waiting on them. We’re waiting to see if they can do that.”
Other potential key returners include juniors Dillon Cowing, Ryan Hahn and Andrew Wayman.
Neither expectations nor experience will be high on the women’s side, where ESU is picked to finish ninth out of 10 MIAA squads in the league’s preseason poll and has just eight runners. Last year, the women finished eighth at the MIAA meet and 10th at regionals.
Davison will be expected to lead the Hornet women. She led ESU at the MIAA meet last year with a 24th-place finish, then finished 48th at regionals.
“This year is the first year I’ve never been injured (to start) the season,” she said. “So, looking forward to it.”
Instead, it’s Katie Mona, usually the Hornets’ top runner last season, who’s facing what Davison is accustomed to. Mona is battling a stress fracture, and when — or even if — she’ll run this fall hasn’t been determined. Mona redshirted in track last spring because of the same injury, and it appears extremely possible she might do the same this fall.
“It’s one day at a time, one week at a time, and I don’t even have any idea when she might race,” Harris said. “I would like her to race this season. She can help our team. But there’s no preconceived idea that she has to race at this time. She has to train for awhile. And so four or five weeks of training is gonna be important.”
Five newcomers make up the eight runners on the girls side. Harris has high hopes for them, especially Sydney Oltjen.
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