The 1996 Cross Country season actually began in November of 1995 when the entire team acknowledged how good the '96 team could be. Right then, we established our goal: a state title in 1996.Throughout the summer, we met and ran - some of us as much as 500 miles and more. In our first chance to compete, at the Lakota Invitational, much to our surprise we lost, finishing second to LaSalle. At the urging of our coaches, we went on the tear, winning CovCath, Walsh Jesuit, and Louisville Trinity. Halfway through the season, we hosted the top teams in the state here at St. X and on a very muddy Saturday, we emerged victorious, gaining the #1 ranking in Ohio.

            Two weeks later, we swept to victory at the GCL Champions, winning on Freshman, JV, and Varsity levels. The district yielded another convincing win, but at Regionals, we faced defending state champs Clayton Northmont. Listening to the race results through a light rain, we heard the news: we had placed second, only one point shy of a Regional Championship.

            Still, we believed; we had extended our streak of qualifying for the State Meet - ten straight – and we still believed we could take the title. But on a cold Saturday in November, we could do no better than third, our best finish ever, but not quite the goal we had set out to achieve.

            We'll miss the outstanding contributions of Kevin Bums, Adam Bange and the other seniors. But with runners such as Reade Kidd, Danny Fritz, Adam Dolan, Matt Kuhn, Pete Mosher, and many others returning, the foundation is clearly in place for State in '97.