All the usual suspects are showing up again

Utah's prep cross country season and the new season of HBO's series "The Sopranos" have something in common again this year — the usual suspects.

When you talk about who might win state championships in late October, you see the same names as have dominated the running ranks in the Beehive State the past few years.

The first of the really large weekend invitational meets is Saturday, when Provo High hosts the Bulldog Invitational at Kiwanis Park. From there, four more weekends of competition from literally coast-to-coast will lead to region championships in early October and the state finals at Sugarhouse Park on Oct. 23.

Here's a look at the top returning runners this fall:

CLASS 5A: The defending champs are Davis in boys' and Fremont in girls'. Both could easily win the crowns again this year. Davis returns seniors Jace Nye and Brad Phippen, who placed fourth and fifth respectively at state last year. Also back is senior Mark Oram. After that, a number of newcomers to varsity are fighting to earn berths. Coach Roger Buhrley's team has been plagued a bit this fall by illness, and Davis has yet to have a team at full strength, but the seeds are planted for another run at a title in Kaysville. Last year's runnerup Bingham has seniors Cody Bowles and Ryan Merriman back, along with juniors Kevin Merriman and Clint Bobrowski. Coach Jeff Arbogast, voted National Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2001, always has his troops ready to go. This year, the Miners will be the first Utah team to ever compete in a meet in Hawaii, on Sept. 21. Also expected to be strong is Fremont, led by junior Tyler Douglas and seniors Trevor Jensen and Travis Casperson. Alta returns seniors Dustin Morden and Jon Kotter, along with sophomore Brett Kotter. Also back are Weber senior Steve Shepherd, senior Bob Lambert of West Jordan, senior Kevin Ellsworth of Brighton, and Cottonwood senior Jared Glenn.

The girls' team race was a classic last year, with Fremont edging Bingham by five points for the title. Fremont returns four of its five top runners: senior Jamie Stubbs and juniors Jerrica Hall, Annie Larson and Stephanie Wilson. Bingham lost its all-world Zeigle twins, Laura and Jackie, but returns junior Micalyne McCann, senior Erin Hawker and sophomore Kit Zeigle. Davis may be Fremont's biggest challenger, with returning seniors Lisa Frischknecht and Allison Passey, along with junior Wendy Wilson and sophomore Shaylee Marler. Other top returners are Brighton senior Monica Starkweather and junior Jasmine Schmidt, Jordan seniors Jennie Haertel and Jody Welcker and Weber junior Jordan Green.