As far as Richard Morgan is concerned, seeing his Eastwood boys cross country team ranked 12th in the preseason

Nick Twining

 Division II state coaches' poll was more of a head-scratcher than anything.

“We understand how these polls are made,” the Eagles' veteran coach said. “How do you know about every team across the state? Unless you're spending time studying all those teams, you're just guessing. I'm guessing they were basing it on our sixth-place (finish) at regionals (last year), and most of our boys are back. We ignored it, mostly. We're just trying to win our league and get out of districts, then we'll worry about getting to state.”

The last time Eastwood qualified for the state cross country meet was in 2001, when it placed ninth in D-II. The Eagles' Ryan Schroeder competed at Scioto Downs in 2002 and placed fourth overall.

Eastwood's last state cross country participant was freshman Bailey Ulinski, who placed 45th at the D-II girls state meet in 2007.

This year's state meet is Nov. 6 at Scioto Downs, and Morgan said his team has “a good shot” at qualifying.

“Where they are right now is not good enough,” Morgan said. “They're not there yet, with the times they're running now, but that doesn't mean they can't get there. We made huge strides last season, where teams we weren't close to in August and September, we were beating in October. If that happens again, we can do some really good things. The kids are working hard and doing their best.”

The Eagles' No. 1 goal is to capture their first SLL title since 2006. Elmwood is the two-time defending league champion, while Eastwood has taken second place the last three years.

“Elmwood is the odds-on favorite to win it,” Morgan said. “Winning the league is always our No. 1 goal, but Elmwood is a deep and talented team.”

Four of the Eagles' top five runners from last season are back - seniors Michael Bratton, Nick Twining, Dustin Herrick and Darin Goodman. Eastwood's No. 2 runner last year, Chase Baldwin, graduated.

Twining was the team's top runner a year ago and hasn't given up that position so far this fall. He ran a season-best time of 17 minutes, 11 seconds at the Tiffin Carnival.

“Nick overtook Chase about halfway through last season,” Morgan said. “He's faster than last year, probably 15-20 seconds per meet. He starts out a little slow, but he comes on at the end of the year. I'd like to see him go to another level. He's improving right now, and that's a good sign.”

After Twining, the Eagles have had several runners flip-flop in placing anywhere from second to fifth in the team

Dustin Herrick

 scoring.

Goodman has been Eastwood's No. 2 runner for about half the season, according to Morgan. Goodman's PR this season is 17:56.

“Darin is real solid,” Morgan said. “He has a good finish and he's pretty trustworthy there. He has injury troubles and he's been in and out of training, so we can't train him quite as much as we would like to. He's improving pretty well.”

Bratton, a team captain, has consistently finished third for Eastwood and has a season-best time of 18:21.

“He pushes himself as hard as anybody in practice,” Morgan said. “He's getting as much out of himself as he can right now.”

Freshman Gabe Fredericks has finished anywhere from second to sixth in the lineup this season, and he has a PR of 18:30.

“Gabe has been all over the place,” Morgan said. “Coming from middle school, he's getting adjusted to it really quickly. He's learning to work hard. The seniors push him really hard, and he responds well when the older kids push him.”

Herrick, who has been fighting off an early-season ankle injury, and junior Johnny Shumay have been in and out of the Eagles' top five this season. Herrick's best time is 18:09, while Shumay's is 18:42.

“Herrick is running on a hurt ankle and he's going through it as well as he can,” Morgan said. “He fights through it. Shumay comes in right around fifth, but he was third for us at the Lancaster Invitational. He's a hard-working kid and he's developed into a very solid runner. His freshman year, I didn't see much potential in him but he's coming along real well.”

Eastwood has placed fourth at the Wood Country meet, fifth at the Lakota Invitational and seventh at the 26-team Lancaster Invite. The SLL meet is Oct. 16 in Bettsville.

“It's a solid season so far,” Morgan said, “and I think the guys are coming along. We're improving now, but we have a long way to go. We can be a really good team, depending on how the last month goes.”

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