Head coach Tom Tessena returns to lead the Bradford boys cross country team for the 41st consecutive season with five lettermen at his disposal that helped the Owls go 6-2 a season ago.

Tyler Kraft leads that slate of Bradford returnees.

“Tyler Kraft is the only senior and our number one runner,” Tessena said. “He is a two-time state meet qualifier and he will be counted on to be up in the front back wherever we run. Tyler has had three strong track seasons in addition to his cross country success so he should be one of the top guys in the area this season.”

After Kraft, it’s four junior lettermen that “need to step up their games” if the Owls are going to compete for titles this season, according to Tessena.

Ryan Cottillion was Bradford’s top finisher at Districts (sixth) and at the PA State Meet (18:52 -147th) and has competed in the state meet twice already.

“He is in pretty good shape and has looked good at times,” Tessena said. “He also needs to be consistently good in his practices and meets. This would give us a good 1-2 combination.” Gabe Mitchell returns as a two-time letterwinner, as well. Mitchell made states his freshman year but fell short last season. He participated in the Down Under Games in Australia as a member of the PA cross country team and ran pretty well in two races down there.

“He needs to stay up with Ryan all of the time. Consistency is also an area that he needs to improve upon. Last year he had some good races and some not so good ones. He has worked hard this summer so we hope to see some good results on Saturday,” Tessena said.

Quentin Minard and Aiden Wright both lettered for the first time last year. Wright was a regular in the top five and Minard worked his way up to that level by year’s end.

“(Quentin) was our third man at Districts(14th place),” Tessena said. “These guys have made most of the practices and also ran in some 5K races as well. They also need to be consistent this year if we are going to score well team wise.

After that, it’ll be five juniors fighting for the remainder of the varsity spots.

Ian Paterniti returns for his third year after qualifying for states his freshman year.

“Right now he isn’t where he wants to be team wise and will have to catch up to the guys that ran more than he did this summer,” Tessena said. “He has the ability to do that.”

Steve Morgan and Devin Benson are back from last year’s team and both of these guys made the top seven at different times, but “need to get in better shape and push themselves consistently,” Tessena said.

Zander Koppenhaver and Zach Cole round out the team.

“Zander has shown much improvement and Zach is working hard to get in shape. Zander has looked strong in the long runs and was our fifth man in a recent time trial,” Tessena said.

According to Tessena, 2019 is going to mark the first time in his coaching career that the team doesn’t have any sophomores or freshman on the team. He encourages any BAHS students still interested in running to contact him at (814) 368-7028.

The Owls have a full invitational schedule with six meets as well as three dual meets before Districts on Sept. 26 in Ridgway.

“We will have a tough, uphill battle at Districts with defending champ Punxy returning most of their top performers,” Tessena remarked. “DuBois will also be strong and Clearfield has several good runners as well. We should get some individual qualifiers if we can’t win the team title. We are pretty much going to work hard right up to Districts and not worry about the dual meets and we will use the invitationals as a measuring stick to see if we are improving.”

Bradford’s Invitational will be held on Sept. 14. Tessena said the school is still looking for volunteers for that event and can contact Mark Kelley if they are interested in helping. There will be at least 17 teams and 300 runners at the varsity and middle school meets.

The season kicks off today at the Bear Mountain Invitational at Lock Haven University.

Full schedule:

September

3 – at St. Marys, with Kane

7 – at Red Dragon Invite (Bemus Point)

10 – DuBois, Smethport, Coudy, O-E, OV

14 – Bradford Invitational

17 – at Ridgway, with ECC, Brockway

28 – at McQuaid Invite

October

5 – at Ridgway Invitational

12 – at Cuba-Rushford Invitational

19 – Kane middle school championship meet

26 – District championships (Ridgway)

November

2 – State meet (Hershey)