The Salem boys cross country team is young but talented.

Rock cross-country runners ready to rebound following tough '09 season

BY ED WRIGHT
Aug. 30, 2010, 10:15 a.m.

  Salem's boys cross country team should see a marked improvement from the 2009 season when it failed to win a KLAA Central Division dual meet.

  But the biggest strides probably won't ultimately emerge until 2011 and 2012 when the Rocks' significant class of sophomores see their training pay off.

  "Mike Charara was a solid runner last year, but we had some question marks after that," said Steve Aspinall, who is coaching the team along with longtime mentor Geoff Baker. "We have a solid pack of four guys this year that I expect to be running well.

  "We also have a bunch of young guys -- we'll have up to nine guys competing for the next seven spots -- who will contribute. Our varsity line-up could change every meet because we have so many young guys pushing each other. We have 15 sophomores on the team, which is a good number for one class."

  The Rocks enjoyed a successful summer of training led by captains Jimmy Daniels and Andy Rabe. The off-season workouts culminated in a turnout of 19 runners (double the number that attended last year) at the team's annual camp in West Branch.

  "We have a lot of young talent that will show up as the year goes on," said Daniels, a four-year performer. "By the Wayne County meet, we should be pretty good."

  "We have a lot of young guys ready to step up," added Rabe. "The bottom half of our varsity roster is wide open right now. We're just looking for some of the younger guys to step up."

  Aspinall had high praise for Rabe and Daniels -- both as runners and leaders.

  "Andy has absolutely outworked everybody else in the program since last season," said Aspinall. "He is going to surprise a lot of people. He'll be our No. 1 to start the year along with Steve McEvilly. Steve ran a 17:09 as a freshman, which was the third-fastest freshman time in school history.

  "Jimmy is a two-year captain who is coming off a pretty good track season and he's been in the mix up front."

  Daniels posted a season-best time of 17:32 in 2009 while Rabe's top clocking was 18:09.

  Battling for the fourth through seventh spots will be sophomores Mike Karizat, Mason Mills, Alex Creekmore, Max Koval and Kyle Winter; junior Dan Remski and senior Tom Patterson.

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.