Big battles loom large for cross-country powers

The prep cross country season has already reached its halfway point, and this much is clear — there will be some classic team battles leading up to the state championships Oct. 19 at Sugarhouse Park.

Class 5A Boys

Realignment brought perennial 4A power Mountain View into the 5A realm, where the Bruins will battle against defending champ Jordan, American Fork (up from 4A), Davis, Fremont, Bingham, Timpanogos and Skyline.

Mountain View got an added bonus when senior Adam McDonald moved from Los Angeles this summer. His family relocated literally across the street from the high school, and McDonald won the boys varsity 5K at the BYU Autumn Classic last Saturday. With all five of last year's top Bruin finishers lost to graduation, McDonald's arrival was good news for coach Dave Houle.

Joining McDonald for the Bruins will be senior Derek Zabriskie and juniors Luke Harrison and Coulson Goodwin.

Jordan lost its top five finishers at state last year to graduation, so the Beetdiggers will turn to senior Adam Norris for leadership. Davis returns seniors Patrick Hall and Richie Whicker, along with juniors Jared Ward and Nake Inkley. Freshman Seth Gutzwiller has performed well early on.

If there's a team to watch out for besides Mountain View, it's probably Bingham, where coach Jeff Arbogast has top runners in seniors Alex Weber, Devan Antczak and Chris Sorensen; or American Fork, with Nathan Lye, Geoff Hammon, T.J. Jackson and Jared Pulsipher.

Skyline's Stephen Clark is among the top returners as well, along with fellow senior Wes Burningham. Weber's Jason Gubler, Viewmont's Kyle McKenna, Taylorsville's Aaron Clements, Fremont's Quenton Jones and Timpanogos' Chris Bringhurst are also top 10 runners in this classification.

Class 4A Boys

With Mountain View up a classification, the 4A race should come down to Utah County powers Provo, Orem and Springville. Provo senior Jared Rohatinsky is back to defend his medalist honor from last year. Austin Olsen and Adam Smith, both juniors, will help the Bulldog cause. Race Ostler and Bryan Willoughby will lead Orem's hopes, while Springville will turn to senior Rex Shields and sophomore Spencer Gardner.

Other top 4A runners include Mike Budge of East, Taylor Hansen of Woods Cross, Andrew Glenn of Cottonwood, Chris Dorton of Lehi, Garrett Mackay of Timpview and Justin Hedin of Mountain Crest. Box Elder junior Matt Perry will also be a factor.

Class 3A Boys