Fall Preview: Retooled Saline Cross Country Team Should Be SEC Red Favorite

The best way to escape the shadow of others is to cast your own.

Logan Wetzel and Kevin Hall dominated cross country meets around the SEC and around the region for years – making Saline a state powerhouse team. They’ve moved on, along with three other seniors (Samuel Cayen, David Conzelman and Josiah Humphrey) from the Saline 7 who ran at the Division 1 state meet last year.

With about 95 runners, Saline will have one of the largest and deepest programs in the state, but replacing two all-state runners will be a challenge.

“I know this team has a bit of a chip on their shoulder after hearing all the talk about the kids we just graduated. It's like this year's team is the little brothers of last year's team, and they love their older brothers, but every bit of them wants to be out of their shadow and make their own mark,” said Saline cross country head coach Carl Spina.

Bryan Adamovicz, John Giles, Matt Militello, Brian Blankenship, Derek Jordan, and Kevin Schnitzer are Saline’s captains. The captains have developed a list of goals. Missing from that list are the types of things you might expect to see. A sixth straight SEC title, perhaps. Maybe a fifth straight regional championship.

Instead, you’ll find the building blocks that may lead to those outcomes.

“The captains developed a set of team goals related to being great teammates, holding each other accountable, and doing a great job with the ‘little things,’” Spina said. “And those things will happen partly because the coaches value those things, but the team leaders are the ones in the trenches. They can make those things happen day after day, and I want to see them take the reins on those things.”

Spina likes his leadership group.

“They make good team leaders because they are open to learning about being leaders and they care a lot about Saline cross country. They are all about maximizing their impact and accepting the idea that the attitude of the team reflects the leadership of the team. Each has a different set of gifts, and they are really learning and leveraging those gifts,” Spina said. “One of the coolest parts of being a coach is the opportunity to work with the captains and the other team leaders and showing them how they can define the team culture and atmosphere.”

Saline’s most decorated returning runner is junior Evan Koerschner. He was seventh at regionals, eighth in the final SEC jamboree and he’s run twice at the MHSAA state meet.

“Evan has consistently been part of the varsity lineup since he was a freshmen, so he is our most experienced runner. For a long time he's benefitted from working side by side with guys like Kevin and Logan, and now he'll have to pass those things he's learned on to his teammates,” Spina said.

Koerschner is the fastest returning runner from last year’s SEC Red final jamboree.

Adamovicz, a senior, is the other returning runner from last year’s Saline 7.

“Bryan is a good emotional leader for the team. He will define success by wins/losses. That can be a painful way to go about things, but we need a kid like that in there. He's hungry to just beat other teams. Cross country kids can be too cerebral and they forget that a big part of racing is finishing ahead of other people. Bryan gets that,” Spina said.

The Hornets will need those two runners to take the next step. And then they will need runners to emerge. Spina is looking to sophomores Anthony Dekraker and Neil Garg, who had solid freshman campaigns. Senior John Giles is a good bet to be in the top five, too. But the situation is fluid.

“All three had injury issues last year, but they are looking very good now. After those guys, we have a bunch of kids that will contend for the six-seven spots and they could even push into the four-five positions,” Spina said.

Freshman Will Downey is expected to push for a big role on the team.

All-state hurdler Josiah Davis is running cross country this year.

“Josiah is obviously a gifted hurdler, but he's also a very confident and determined athlete, and that will go a long ways,” Spina said.

Fellow senior Eric Wu, after running the 800 for the track and field team last spring, is also out for cross country.

“Eric has an incredible capacity for work and the kid is just unflinching in the face of pain,” Spina said.

Spina won’t downplay the loss of his all state runners. Wetzel and Hall gave the Hornets a margin for error that simply no longer exists.

“All seven of our top seven have to race well consistently. Day after day,” Spina said.

Strong as they were as athletes, they were even better as leaders. Spina hopes his Hornets learned well from them.

“They were two incredible high school athletes, accomplished at the highest level of the sport, but they never made it about their individual accomplishments. They poured every ounce of themselves into helping their teammates and never made it about themselves, and that's a powerful model for the kids left behind,” Spina said.

Other SEC Red teams, like Skyline and Pioneer, graduated top senior athletes. Saline probably remains the favorite, but after years of success, they’re wearing targets on the course.

“The SEC will not be a cake-walk for us and we will need to race well in order to win the conference. I think all of the programs in the Red Division are on a continued upswing,” Spina said.

The Saline cross country program is known throughout the state, not only for its elite athletes, but for the sheer size of the team. This year Spina is starting with about 95 runners, so the army of Hornets will continue to draw gasps from onlookers at the invitationals. Many of the kids will never run in the top seven or figure into the scoring at meet.

“(The size of the team is) an indicator of a healthy cross country environment. We value work ethic, and if those kids didn't know it, they wouldn't be out there working as hard as they do. There's also the idea that every kid has something to contribute to the team,” Spina said. “Every athlete has to bring something to the table, whether it's teaching a new athlete the ways of our program, being a model of consistent effort, or being a very good leader that demands the best of his friends and teammates.”

Everyone in the program shares in the pride when the “B” team wins a meet or takes a JV meet.

“When the B team wins a race or places in the trophies, that is a big deal to those kids. They are typically very good runners and would be first-string on just about any team in Michigan, but they go to Saline. It's difficult to get your name in the newspaper when you are our twelfth runner, but when those kids win a trophy at an invitational, it's a little like they just won the state championship,” Spina said.

Many of last year’s B team runners are vying to fill those spots left by the five state-meet seniors.

“Part of why we will be successful this fall, even after graduating five of our top seven, is that we have been preparing for 2015 since 2012. We want our second and third string athletes to have varsity experience before we are counting on them as our first string, and we can get them that experience by entering B teams at races,” Spina said.

And there’s something unique about cross country.

“Literally, we are all trying to do the same thing on a cross country team. We're all trying to run a 5k as fast as we possibly can. There's never a defense vs. offense mentality or worries about playing time. And when we have 80, 90, 100 kids all running towards the same goal, all taking seriously their role as a contributor to the program, that's unbeatable,” Spina said.

This year, Spina will be joined by assistant coaches Kyle Zill and Brian Boze. Both are back for the second year. Zill, a 2007 graduate of Saline, ran cross country for the Hornets and speaks with authority about the Hornet tradition. Boze is working with the “A” team of athletes. Colwyn Fischbach, who graduated last year, joined the staff this year. Several alumni also help with coaching.

Key dates:

• Aug. 28 – AA Running Co End of Summer Classic, Hudson Mills Metropark
• Sept. 10 – SEC Jamboree (Munson Park, Monroe).
• Sept. 18 – MSU Spartan Invitation
• Sept. 29 – SEC Jamboree (Indian Creek, Bedford)
• Oct. 22 – SEC Jamboree (Finals at Hudson Mills Metropark)
• Oct. 31 – Regional at Woodhaven
• Nov. 7 – MHSAA Finals at MIS

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