These are good times for Cathedral High School boys cross country.
The present is strong, the future is bright, and Jim Nohl said he felt good about both as the 2019 season ended and the program looked forward.
“We’ll be there,” Nohl, the Irish’s boys cross-country coach, said following a season in which Cathedral narrowly missed a third consecutive team appearance in the Indiana High School Athletic Association State Cross-Country Meet.
“We’ll be fine. Next year we should be there.”
The Irish, a year after finishing as the state runners-up, negotiated a perennially difficult postseason path in 2019. They finished as runners-up at the sectional meet before a fifth-place regional finish, then missed the state meet by finishing seventh at a sloppy, soggy semi-state meet – one place shy of qualifying for the state meet.
“They matured through the season as we went along,” Nohl said. “They understood what needed to be done. They were ready for any of the challenges. There was nothing I put out there that they didn’t think they could do. We weren’t picked to get out of regionals, and then they didn’t pick us to be as close as we were at semi-state.
“We didn’t shy away from it at all. They got better as the tournament went along.”
Irish boys cross country in 2019 was led by a strong, small senior class that included Nick Hruskoci and Grant Ferguson. The duo was key to the program’s success the past four years, finishing with strong seasons.
“We had some good experience, and we had some good leadership with Nick and Grant,” Nohl said.
Hruskoci finished 77th at the state meet in 16:44.0, and Nohl said he handled a pressurized role in 2019.
“He was consistently the No. 1 runner,” Nohl said. “He ran really great races. He had a peak of about 15:26 at All-Catholic, and ran in the 15s at the regional and semi-state. It was different at state because he was by himself. It wasn’t quite the run we were hoping for, but you can’t define one race as your whole time. Overall, he got better and better and was a good leader.
“He definitely helped us get to the next level. His work ethic helped everybody.”
The Irish will lose just two seniors from their top 14 runners in 2019. A strong junior class will return, a group that on average cut from two-to-three minutes off their time this past season.
“They’re at that level, so we’ll push them harder during track and put some more speed in them,” Nohl said. “They’re hyped up.”
The Irish as a team finished seventh at the Semi-State 2 meet at Shelbyville with 198 points, missing qualifying for the state meet by 21 points and finishing 109 points behind semistate champion Carmel. Hruskoci finished 10th in 15:55 to qualify for the state meet, with junior Jackson Carlile finishing 27th in 16:22.8, senior Grant Ferguson finishing 57th in 16:45.1, junior Colin Monesmith finishing 71st in 16:55.5, freshman Connor Carlile finishing 89th in 17:07.0. sophomore Jack Wajda finishing 119th in 17:23.9 and junior Nathan Fiedeldy finishing 121st in 17:24.8.
The Irish finished fifth at the Regional 10 meet at Noblesville with 139 points, 82 points behind sectional champion Brebeuf Jesuit. Hruskoci finished seventh with a time of 15:45, with Ferguson finishing 26th in 16:19, Monesmith finishing 33rd in 16:37, Jackson Carlile finishing 34th in 16:37, Fiedeldey finishing 57th in 17:01, Wajda finishing 65th in 17:14 and junior Preston Avery finishing 68th in 17:18.
The Irish finished second as a team at the Sectional 20 meet at Brebeuf with 71 points, two behind sectional champion Brebeuf. Hruskoci finished second at the sectional in 16:19, with Jackson Carlile finishing sixth in 16:49, Ferguson finishing 15th in 17:05, Monesmith finishing 19th in 17:08, Wajda finishing 29th in 17:29, freshman Liam Eifert finishing 30th in 17:30 and Connor Carlile finishing 47th in 18:20.
“This was a fun season,” Nohl said, “We achieved well. It would be one thing if we were eighth, or ninth or 10th at semi-state, but we were right on the edge. We gave it our best shot considering the conditions. We probably would have been 10th or ninth at state with what we would have gone in with.
“I think we were fine. A lot of people underestimate us or what we could do. I tried to make it so they were all on the same level without trying to push them super hard. I wanted them all to be at a certain strength level without trying to push them super hard.
“If we had had two more weeks, I could have gotten them down about 15-to-20 seconds more, but next year it should be fine because they’ll kick in starting in August.”