Story and photo by Cort Reynolds
ADA - A lone senior returns to pace the youthful Ada cross country team this fall.
Veteran Hunter Wells is back to run the grueling sport for fourth-year head coach Josh Klein, whose combined boys/girls roster boasts nine runners. There is only one female on the team.
"We are really young and inexperienced," admitted Klein. "But the most exciting part is working with a mostly young group that is new to cross country."
Ada lost eight runners from last season, mostly to graduation, including ace Miguel Jordan. Three lettermen return in 2019.
Multiple letterman Wells is expected to be the team's number one runner.
"Hunter needs to stay healthy (he has battled shin problems in the past)," said Klein. "He has willpower and fights to the end, and he gives it everything."
Sophomore returning letterman Riley Ferguson should be the team's number two runner. "Riley will lead the pack after Hunter," said Klein. "He has good leadership skills and possesses a good, positive attitude."
Ferguson posted the top Northwest Conference title meet finish of any Bulldog 2019 returnee.
"We want to get Hunter and Riley down around the 20-minute mark," said Klein of the top two Bulldog individual harriers.
Sophomore newcomer Seth Swaney is expected to run third most meets for Ada, followed by classmate letterman Keegan Giddens.
The fifth spot, the final scoring position in cross country unless there is a tie (at which point it goes to seven runners) is a toss-up between freshmen, says Klein.
"Robby Waters or Connor Daugherty will fill that last spot," Klein offered. "Daugherty is really learning quickly. But we are very young, having lost eight runners and with just three back.
"Yet since we are so young, we have a lot of room to improve," he added.
Sophomore Seenity LaValle is the lone girl on the roster. "This is her first year in cross country," Klein noted.
Sophomore Ashton Cowan and freshman Xander Wells round out the nine-person roster.
"Our main goal is just to get all of our individual times down as low as possible by season's end," Klein offered. "We want everyone to be under 30 minutes in the early meets, then have everyone under 27 minutes (over 3.1 miles) by the end.
"With our inexperience I do not expect us to place high in the NWC," he continued. "(Defending champion) Columbus Grove and Lincolnview look like the favorites in the Northwest Conference."
The Ada boys took fifth at the league meet last year as Jordan finished a team-best 12th. Ferguson came in 54th in 20:50.2, while Hunter Wells came in 66th in 22:02.3. Giddens ended up 79th with a time of 23:36.2.
Grove edged out second-place Lincolnview in both the boys (30-33) and girls (36-44) league meet standings last fall. Lady Bulldog Lauren Mullins ended up 27th in the 2018 girls NWC meet, but she decided to play soccer this fall.
The only other 2018 Ada female runner graduated last spring, so they were three runners shy of fielding a girls team.
The team's first meet is Saturday morning, August 24 at Seneca East. The league race is at Columbus Grove October 12.
Ada CC at a glance
Head coach: Josh Klein, 4th year
2018 NWC finish: Boys 5th/8 teams
Roster numbers: 8 boys, 1 girl
Lettermen back/lost: 3/8
Top returnees: Sr. Hunter Wells, So. Riley Ferguson, So. Keegan Giddens
Top newcomers: Fr. Connor Daugherty, Fr. Robby Waters
