TROY — Kevin Alexander returns as Troy girls cross country coach.

The Trojans were MVL runnerup last year.

Returning letterwinners include Hannah Brooks, Nailah Ddamba, Saidah Ddamba, Hallie Frigge, Katie Hansbarger, Allyson Kyle, Johnae Malcolm, Millie Peltier, Brooke Craft, Skylar DeMoss, Kara Enneking, Kiley Kitta, Ashley Kyle, Lynnette McKibbin, Allison Unger, Chelsea Muhlenkamp, Alaina Welbaum, Isabel Westerheide and Lily Zimmerman.

“The coaching staff is looking forward to see growth and improvement for each individual on the team throughout the season,” Alexander said. There will be strong competition within the MVL this season with Piqua, Tipp and Vandalia-Butler fielding quality squads along with numerous top flight individuals from other schools within the conference.”

TIPPECANOE

Byron Kimmel returns as the girls coach

The Red Devils were Miami County Champs, MVL Champs, district and regional runnerup and finished 10th at the state meet.

Returning letterwinners include seniors Shelby Hept, Isa Ramos and Libby Krebs and juniors Leda Anderson, Gracie Wead and Katie Landis.

The top newcomers will be freshman Morgan Collins and Ella Combs.

Collins won the Miami County and MVL meet in eighth grade.

”She is also an outstanding tennis player,” Kimmel said. “We will have to share her. This will be one of our more experienced teams. Six of the top 7 return from last year’s state qualifying team. The girls should be in position to duplicate last year’s success.

PIQUA

Returning for the Piqua girls cross country team are seniors Lienne Casey, Kenzie Fast, Reagan Howard and Isabella Murray; and sophomores Olivia Friend, Ashlyn Gearhardt, Abby Lambert, Lana Merzke, Hannah Petersen, Miranda Sweetman, Berklee Webster and Lucy Weiss.

BETHEL

The Bethel girls cross country team includes juniors Eva Fry, Abigail Martin, Camryn Nida and Jewell Tyler; sophomore Kelsie Dallas and freshman Aleiah Fry and Madeline Moore.

COVINGTON

Josh Long returns as Covington coach.

The Covington girls cross country team is young, but returns plenty of experience from a team that finished third in the league last year.

The Lady Buccs will be led by last year’s TRC runner of the year and state qualifier sophomore Elyza Long.

Also returning for the Buccs is all-league runner in junior Johanna Welborn, seniors Teylor Meyer, Summer Anderson, Eve Welborn, and junior Ella White.

New to the team this yearand looking to make an immediate impact are freshmen Delaney Murphy, Kassidy Turner, Bella Welch and sophomore Kylie Brown.

“We are excited to get the season started to see how much the girls have improved,” Long said. “We reallylike our team chemistry and their overall great attitudes. This should be a really fun year andwe believe that this team could surprise some people by the end of the year.”

LEHMAN CATHOLIC

Nick Wolters is the coach.

Freshman Anna Minneci, Noelle Reineke and Zippy Bezy are ready to begin their high school running careers and sophomore Amy Briggs will look to transition her swimming endurance as they begin their high school adventures.

MIAMI EAST

Alan Russell returns as coach.

Miami East is the defending champion in the TRC.

“Maryn Gross (junior) was runner-up in the league race a year ago and qualified for the regional meet,” Russell said. “She looks to be in good condition going into the season. Teagan Kress won the junior high girls league race last year. She looks to be ready to have a successful freshman season.”

Russell has high hopes for the team.

”I expect the girls to be competitive throughout the season,” he said. “I hope we can be able to be at or near the top of the Three Rivers Conference at the championship meet. I hope all of the girls are able to work hard, stay healthy, stay motivated, and show great improvement throughout the year. Milton-Union and Covington usually have competitive teams. Hopefully, we will be up there competing with them for the conference title.”

MILTON-UNION

Michael Meredith returns as coach.

The Bulldogs will look to improve on last year’s second-place finish at the conference meet.

TROY CHRISTIAN

Jeff McDaniel returns as coach.

Returning letterwinners include senior Mackenzie Rougier, junior Gwen Harris and sophomores Annaliese Erdahl and Lila Echemann.

“Senior Mackenzie Rougier will be leading the team this year,” McDaniel said. “ Our girls are going to be working hard to improve their times from last year and work to have fun competing in a tough sport. We have a very competitive group of runners in our conference but we hope to have Mackenzie and Gwen in the top aiming for first team. We want to keep the girls healthy through the season so we can compete as a team.”

BRADFORD

Athena Beachler is the Bradford coach.

Returning runners include Megan Wood, Emma and Daphne Lavey and Isabella Hamilton.Joining the team is freshman Kristen Skinner.

“We have a great group of ladies training hard to be competitive this season,” Beachler said.

NEWTON

Aubrey Hughes returns as Newton coach.

“I have 1 runner this year, Gentri Deaton,” Hughes said. “Gentri is a freshman and is looking forward to seeing what she can do transitioning from the twomile to the 5K. She is a hard worker and I look forward to seeing what the season has in store for her.”

You can reach Sports Editor Rob Kiser at [email protected]