RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's men's and women's cross country teams are gearing up for a new season in which they'll hope to improve on last year's conference finish, which saw both teams place seventh. They will try to do so with an expanded roster that is more than three times larger than when Head Coach Corey Bins took over the program two years ago.

"During my first season as coach in 2017, we had 10 student-athletes on the men's and women's teams combined, and we have 31 combined this year, so we've grown rapidly," Bins said. "Next year, we hope to have 20 men and 20 women on the roster. We're a very young team, so there's a lot of growth with the group that we do have."

Both teams feature just three upperclassmen, meaning the Red Hawks will rely heavily on their younger runners to carve out a significant role.

"The main goal for both teams is to take another big step in their development," Bins said. "Last season, they both had their best finish at the conference meet in about six or seven years, so we're looking to take that next step and try to finish among the top five teams in the conference."

Although there's always room for improvement, Bins is already encouraged with what he's seen through one week of preseason practices.

"I'm really happy with how the young runners are looking and I'm happy with the work they did in the summer to prepare for the season. We have some people who are going to contribute in a big way as freshmen," Bins said. "Our returning runners also look to be in great shape and are ready to get the season started."

MEN
This year's Ripon men's squad is led by its lone Senior, Andrew Johnson, who has been a staple in the Red Hawks' lineup since his freshman year and also serves as team captain. The three-time Academic All-Conference performer finished fifth on the team at last year's Midwest Conference Championships with an 8K time of 5:41.9. He headlines a trio of upperclassmen that also includes juniors Ezekiel Carson and Ali Hamza.

"Andrew is a tremendous leader who has taken a lot of the younger guys under his wing and has taught them the work ethic that it takes to be successful at this level," said Bins.

Ripon saw somewhat of a youth movement last season with an incoming class that included Miles Kremsreiter, David Potter, Garrett Radtke, and Joe Pachowitz. That quartet, along with Calyn Rieger are now entering their sophomore campaign, and hope to improve on last year, which saw them make up three of the team's top four times at the MWC Championships.

"Our sophomores helped elevate us last year as freshmen, so they're our core foundation that we're building around over the next couple years," said Bins.

This year's freshmen include six student-athletes that will add to what is already a talented team. The newcomers include Keegan Aimesbury, Tyler Edwards, Sam Forstner, Noah Lutzke, Ian Murray, and RJ Olson.

"Keegan and Sam could be immediate contributors to the team, while Ian, RJ, and Noah are on the cusp and have potential to contribute in the near future," Bins said. "The conference seems pretty wide open this year, so we should have the opportunity to move up and finish higher than we did last season at the conference meet."

WOMEN
Ripon's women's team is very similar to the men in that it is trying to improve on a seventh place finish at the MWC Championships, and also consists of just three upperclassmen in seniors Morgan Exner and Terrina Phillips, and Junior Madie King.

"We have a lot more depth this season, so it's a realistic goal to finish in the top four in the conference," Bins said. "Madie should be in the mix to possibly win the individual conference championship."

Madie King and Phillips are the team's only returning All-Conference runners, finishing 18th and 20th, respectively, with just three seconds separating their times. Madie is also a two-time Academic All-Conference performer.

"Madie was pretty inexperienced as a freshman and never ran varsity in High School, but last year everything clicked and came together to make her one of the top runners in the conference. She's an extremely hard worker and does everything that is asked of her and it has paid off in a big way," Bins said. "Terrina typically gets better as the season progresses, so I'm confident that she'll have a chance to make All-Conference once again."

Exner will also push other members of the team to perform at their best.

"Morgan has a chance to be one of our top seven runners and potentially race at Regionals," Bins said. "She's competing with a handful of younger runners for those top seven spots."

Those younger runners include a talented sophomore class, consisting of Szasha Evanoff, Natalie King, Alyssa Naber, Morgan Waye, and Makaila Weddle. The first four of those runners each earned Academic All-Conference honors in their first year with the team. Weddle, Natalie King, and Waye also each finished in the top seven on the team at the MWC Championships.

"Makaila is another runner who contributes more as the season goes on, and could be one of our top runners by season's end," said Bins.

Also like the men's team, Ripon's women's squad is very freshman-heavy, with more than half of the team made up of first-year runners. That class includes Lili Alderson, Emily Brueggeman, Sophia Dubord, Grace Engebretson, Bridget Finn, Mikayla Flyte, Jahaira Gonzalez, Natalie Pakosz, and Allex Vergenz.

"We're really excited about our freshman class, and Grace, Mikayla, and Sophia will likely contribute right away," Bins said. "We have a large group of other freshmen who have a lot of potential and could develop into really nice runners in the future."

Ripon will open their 2019 season on August 31, competing at the Tom Barry Invite, which is hosted by St. Norbert College in Green Bay, Wis.