Junior Jacob Poling has been sidelined since competing at Louisville on Oct. 1 with an undisclosed health issue, and he was shut down for the season this week. He finished 23rd in the league race last year.
“With him, it’s a much different team than without him,” Williamson said.
“They could be a top-3 type of team with him. The Horizon League on the men’s side is pretty strong. In the last two or three years, it’s really stepped up a notch. If they can break into the top half without Jacob, that would be a great day.”
Tayton Hess, a junior from Beavercreek, made second-team all-conference last season with a 14th-place showing, but he’s also banged up.
“He’s had some shin issues. He missed one meet, and I doubt he’ll be full strength. He’s just kind of just doing it for the team,” Williamson said.
Not that the Raiders can’t sill make some noise.
Max Pettit, a senior from Enon, and Alex McCarty, a junior from Eaton, led the Raiders to a sixth-place finish among 29 teams at Cedarville’s All-Ohio Championships.
Pettit, who was 15th individually, ran the 8K (about five miles) in 24:52.6. And McCarty, who was 22nd, came in at 25:04.6. Both beat the previous best time by a Raider on Cedarville’s course since the team started competing there in 2009.
While Pettit missed the HL meet with an injury last season, McCarty had a solid showing at 27th.
“McCarty and Pettit are our clear top two. They’re running great,” Williamson said. “Not to put any pressure on them, but they’re looking to be all-conference (top 14).”
The Raiders will lose only Pettit to graduation, and Williamson likes what he sees among his youngsters — especially freshman Patrick Statzer, a Wayne product.
“He’s more of a middle-distance track guy, and we didn’t think he’d be this good at cross country. But he was third for us at the Bradley meet and has shown he can be a really good prospect in the future.”
Tipp City’s Abby Halsey finished her stellar career with the individual title last season — the first Raider to do it in 21 years — but the women are in rebuilding mode.
They did place second at the 15-team Wilmington meet. Junior Alicia Neumeier was 8th, while Emma Shigley, a senior from Troy, was 11th, and Emma Johnson, a junior from Beavercreek, was 16th.
At the 2021 HL meet, Shigley was the next Raider to cross the finish line after Halsey at 29th.
“On the women’s side, the best-case scenario — we just have such a young group and don’t have the depth — would be sixth or seventh,” Williamson said. “Some of the younger girls are doing really well, but they’re probably 12 months away from really crushing it.”
The Raiders host next year’s meet at Fairborn Community Park.
The last time they were the home team was 2015, when they didn’t even have their own course.
“Fabien Corbillon was the old head coach. We were at the coaches meeting one day, and he goes, ‘We should put in a bid to host,’” said Williamson, who has been head coach for seven years and was an assistant for five years before that.
“I said, ‘We don’t have a course!’ But we put it in, and they gave it to us, and we had to scramble to find a course.”
They had at least a little familiarity with Cedarville and rented that.
Next year, they should have a real home-course advantage.
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