Last year the Parkland boys cross country team won the regular season Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title with a superlative 17-0 record.

This year Parkland head coach Stephen Ott, entering his fourth season, is again hopeful the Trojans will be in not only the regular season title mix, but postseason glory.

“Our expectation is for our boys to be in contention for league and district team titles again this year,” Ott said. “We lost two key seniors in Cameron Price and Avi Hochhauser, but the younger runners have put the training in during the summer. The goal is for them to take over leadership of our team, stay healthy, and continue to improve to rise to the weekly challenges of our schedule.”

The Trojans will rise to meet those challenges, in part, through their dedication to running.

“Our top athletes have bought in and are committed,” Ott said. “Their commitment is contagious to the entire team.”

One example of that commitment is junior Ethan Willard, who explains how that dedication manifests into action.

“A good example of our dedication is our training during the summer,” Willard said. “We meet up with our coaches to participate in our workouts. On the other days, it’s our responsibility to run and take care of ourselves with stretching, core routines and good nutrition.”

In addition to Willard, Parkland’s is looking for a good year from junior Paul Abeln, who finished 11th in the EPC last year and 15th in District 11 competition. Three seniors - Sam Tomko, Brady Hoffman and Liam McGuigan - will all have a big role in the team’s fortunes this year.

Two other juniors - Tyler Rothrock and Jake Barnes - both had strong seasons in ‘21, but each were just outside the top seven.

“They had excellent track seasons and I know that will help them this fall,” Ott said.