Veterans lace cross country teams

Their goal of consistency should be an obtainable one.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State cross country teams begin the season Saturday at the Tommy Evans Invitational.

Both squads will rely on their experience to help them improve from a year ago.

The men’s squad returns all but one of its top runners from a year ago while the women’s squad features all seven of its runners who competed at last season’s Horizon League championship.

“Our biggest goal is to stay consistent and healthy every day,” coach Brian Gorby said.

“If we can stay healthy, then it will be in our hands to make big improvements and win.”

On the men’s side, the Penguins will have a strong veteran group returning. This season, the Penguins will look to compete for the Horizon League championship having 10 members from last year’s squad along with the addition of Rick Lape (Boardman).

Last year, the Penguins took third place at the championships, only one point behind Loyola for second, while placing three runners in the top 20. Junior Justin Dickman finished 10th, senior Dan Nemergut finished in 13th to earn second team All-Horizon League and sophomore Jake Lape took 17th.

The women battled through injuries and a young squad a year ago and will look to move back toward the top half of the Horizon League.

Nine runners return from last year along with newcomers Elizabeth Kelvington (East Palestine), Jamie Rollo (Poland), Liz Shivers (Salem) and Joclyn Steiner (Ravenna).

“Team depth will be key for the fifth through eighth spots for the women’s team,” Gorby said. “That will determine how high we can place every week.”

The women will be led by junior Lauren Blase, who finished a team-best 34th at the Horizon League championships and finished among YSU’s top two runners in all six events last year.

The Penguins will also need strong performances by sophomore Kayla Witmer and junior Dawn Goodwin.

During her freshman season, Witmer scored in all four meets in which she ran.

She was the team’s top runner twice and second-best runner twice. Goodwin scored in every meet and was YSU’s top runner at the All-Ohio Championships.