5 Teams to Watch
1. Lake Central: After taking second at semistate and 13th at state, the Indians reload with the top three runners from those postseason meets and five of its top seven overall.
2. Valparaiso: Last season ended with a state-finals berth for the Vikings, a year that included a conference title. The sophomore duo of Logan Ferngren and Elena Kipp will lead Valparaiso into more postseason contention this fall.
3. Portage: The Indians inched past Valparaiso to win a regional championship and return five of the top seven runners from that team, including its top runner in senior Kyra Ball.
4. LaPorte: Firmly in the mix last postseason, LaPorte brings back all seven runners who competed at state, where the Slicers finished 22nd in the team standings.
5. Lowell: The Red Devils boast a talented lineup that features senior captains Amanda Lange and Taylor Aeschliman, 2014 NCC Meet champion Jessie Mescal and a loaded freshman class that finished second in the state as a middle school team last year.
5 People to Watch
1. Logan Ferngren, Valparaiso: She was the first Region runner to cross the finish line at state, finishing 42nd overall, and that was just her freshman year. She should again be among the leaders at every DAC race.
2. Kailee Schoof, LaPorte: Her individual victory at last year’s DAC Meet made it four years in a row that a LaPorte runner won. She leads another talented and deep Slicers team this fall.
3. Lindsay Moskalick, Crown Point: With coach Adam Piaskowy accepting a position in Wisconsin, Moskalick takes over the program after a long stint as an assistant with the Bulldogs.
4. Hannah Hammer, Morton: Hammer’s debut season last fall ended with a regional qualification. With Hammer back for her sophomore year, coach Scott Lush said the aim is now for an appearance at state.
5. Kyra Ball, Portage: Ball led her team to the regional title last fall and also was a regional champion in the 1,600-meter run during track season, setting her up for a strong finish in her senior season.
5 Things to Watch
1. Weekend warriors: Both the GSSC and NCC have followed the DAC’s lead and eliminated the regular season round-robin schedule (for both the boys and girls teams). That means Saturday morning races will be the prominent competitions, and conference titles will come down to one winner-take-all race.
2. Hanover Central’s back: Seniors Lindsey Kolanowski and Olivia Umlauf lead a Hanover team that returns its entire roster from the conference-winning 2014 season and has its sights set on even more postseason success.
3. Munster’s match: The NCC champion Mustangs lost senior Brittany Barajas to graduation, but added track state finalist Elise Garcia to the roster. They’ll need that depth to compete with Lowell and a resurgent Highland team led by Reilly Panozzo.
4. Challenging Hebron: The Hawks have a healthy Payton Schatz topping their title-defending lineup. But gaining ground is a Morgan Twp. team that brings back its top five — including the duo of Hailey and Mariah Haveck.
5. Vikings’ aim to repeat: Valparaiso got back on the DAC throne by winning the conference last fall, but deep teams from LaPorte, Portage and Lake Central all will raise the difficulty level of a repeat performance.
Refresher Course
All local teams were kept out of the top 10 and all local runners were kept out of the top 40, as Valparaiso’s Logan Ferngren took 42nd place and Lake Central’s team finished 13th to lead the Region representatives at the 2014 state meet.
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
