By Jim Newell
Review Editor
ORION TWP. — The Lake Orion High School boys varsity cross country team has enjoyed success on the course for years, and head coach Andrew McDonald feels that this year’s team could once again challenge for a league title.
McDonald feels experience and hard work are the keys to the Dragons’ success, with several juniors and seniors returning to a talented roster. There are 34 runners on the roster for the Dragons; 14 seniors and seven juniors.
Junior Raymond Lucero was 10th in the OAA Red last year. Lucero and junior Blake Peardon were both all-league cross country runners for the Dragons in 2022. Along with 2022 graduate Eddie Cromwell and sophomore Max Houvener, Lucero and Peardon made it to the track and field state finals in the 3,200-meter relay this spring.
“I think I have a pretty good pack of athletes this year,” McDonald said. “Two seniors I look forward to seeing run this season are Oliver House and Sean Stein. We haven’t had a meet yet, but from what I’ve seen in practice my top five so far are Ray Lucero, Blake Peardon, Max Houvener, Sean Stein and Oliver House. Two other seniors that have really impressed me in practice are Jack Logsdon and Alexi Laurent.”
In cross country, the top seven runners score for the team, so the goal is to get runners as close to the top of the field as possible to achieve an overall higher team score.
This is McDonald’s second year as head coach after taking over from retired coach Stan Ford.
“We have more experience that last year’s team. Last year I was a new coach, with kind of new system of how I was going to run things. I think this year that everyone’s a lot more familiar with the expectations of what coach McDonald wants,” McDonald said. “We’ve had a good first month of practice.”
While McDonald has high hopes for this year’s team, he knows it will not be an easy task against the other quality teams in the OAA Red Division.
“I think we can compete in our league. Our league is going to be tough. Oxford has a really good team. Clarkston was fourth in the state last year. Troy was county champs. So, our league is definitely very deep, very competitive and well-coached,” McDonald said. “Hopefully, we’re in that mix. I think we have what it takes to be right there in the league.”
Last season was the first time in years that Lake Orion did not have an athlete at the state cross country finals, but McDonald sees that – and how hard his boys have worked in the offseason – as a building block for this season. The team’s cohesiveness and how much they support and push one another is a strength that he sees from this year’s team that bodes well for their meets.
The Dragons first meet of the season is the Milford Invitational on Thursday. Both the boys and girls cross country teams will compete in the OAA Jamboree I on Sept. 12 at Lake Orion High School. The girls varsity cross country teams start off at 4:30 p.m., followed by the boys teams.
The Jamboree is a good test early in the season to see how well the Dragons perform against many of the rival schools in the league and gauge the areas on which the team needs to focus on to improve.
“We’d love to win a league championship, we’d also like to go to the state finals. I know for us to make it to the state finals we have beat Oxford, Troy, Clarkston and Utica,” McDonald said, adding that Lake Orion has been listed in the top five cross country teams in the region.
“My top five runners, I feel, can match up with other teams. And what coach Ford always taught me is that we have to get that pack together. Maybe we won’t win one, two or three (places in a meet), but we’ll have three runners in the top 10, and then my fourth and fifth runners will be in the top 25. That’s how you win leagues, that’s how you go to the state finals. That’s my task,” McDonald said.
Besides the juniors and seniors, who McDonald said have shown strong leadership this preseason, he’s also hopeful for the future, with several sophomores and freshmen developing nicely and challenging for varsity time.
“Freshmen Zach McGee, Collin Grahl and Gavin Pittenger have all really impressed me this year. They want to compete, they want to compete for a varsity spot,” McDonald said. “I’ve spent the summer working with all of these guys and I feel they should be ready for the moment. I think we’ll have them prepared and it should be fun. I’m excited. I think we can have a really good season.”