By Cort Reynolds
Six runners comprise the youthful Ada cross country roster this fall.
Sixth-year head coach Josh Klein has four boys and two girls out for the squad this season.
"We are going to try and have fun with the team this year and work to get our times down," said Klein. "We have a really young team, and Riley (Ferguson) is our most experienced runner."
Ada lost several key runners from last season to graduation and non-returnees, but three lettermen came back.
Senior two-time letterman Ferguson is clearly the top returning Bulldog harrier. "Riley will be our number one runner," said Klein. "I hope for him to get down in the low 18's (minutes) to better his personal-record (high 18's).
"He has worked hard and hopefully this will be his strongest year."
Freshman Aedyn Beckwith is expected to be the number two runner for the Ada boys. "He will be fun to watch this season, he can probably hang with Riley," said Klein. "He is a good 800 meter runner with a lot of energy. He loves to run."
Freshman Kaleb Couch will likely run number three for the Bulldogs. "He ran junior high track, but has had some knee issues," Klein noted.
Junior newcomer Tristen Dalton is expected to run fourth for Ada. "He has had one year of track experience in junior high," said Klein.
Two girl letter winners return for the Lady Bulldogs. Sophomores Jillian Hazelton and Elsie Allen gained valuable experience last season.
"We want to get Jillian down to 24 minutes or the lower 20s," said the coach.
"We hope to push Elsie to the 25-minute mark this season," said Klein. "She is capable of it."
The Ada boys cross country team finished seventh at the Northwest Conference championship meet last year.
Columbus Grove repeated as boys NWC team champion, followed by Lincolnview, Crestview, Bluffton, Paulding, Allen East, Paulding and Ada. Spencerville did not field enough runners to comprise a team score.
Ferguson finished 61st at the 2020 league meet in a time of 20:47.
Crestview edged Grove to win the girls league title in 2020. Lincolnview was third while Ada, Bluffton, Paulding and Spencerville did not have enough runners for a team score.
"With lower roster numbers, we are more focused on doing fun runs than running big meets this season," Klein summed up. "We want to grow our younger team, so we won't be running in as many big meets where we would not be competitive."
Ada CC at a glance
Head coach: Josh Klein, 6th year
2020 NWC finish: Boys 7th/8 teams
Roster numbers: 4 boys, 2 girls
Lettermen back/lost: 3/5
Top returnees: Sr. Riley Ferguson, So. Elsie Allen, So. Jillian Hazelton.
Top newcomers: Fr. Aedyn Beckwith, Fr. Kaleb Couch, Jr. Tristen Dalton.
