For each of the last three cross country seasons, boys in Johnson County were racing for second place just about every time out.
Will Jefferson was That Guy, a pretty safe bet to score just one point in almost every meet between the season opener and the regional.
Whiteland’s star runner has graduated, but most of his teammates from a year ago are still here — and eager to prove that the Warriors weren’t just a one-man gang.
“We’ve got a lot of our group back, and they’re working hard,” coach Gerry Emerson said. “Hopefully they can fill that void of that one point. If we can get everybody to move up where they should be, hopefully that’ll make a big enough difference.”
The potential is certainly there. Senior Michael Perkins finished second behind Jefferson at the county and Mid-State conference meets last season and was seventh at the sectional. Classmates Ashton Spoonamore and Zach Sell, as well as sophomore Michael Nino, were all top-25 sectional finishers as well.
Workouts over the summer and early in the preseason have had a different vibe; Jefferson is no longer there to serve as the rabbit for everyone else, but the jury is out on whether or not that’s a bad thing.
It is, however, an adjustment.
“I don’t have somebody in front of me to push me, other than my teammates like Ashton, who run side by side with me,” Perkins said, “but there’s nobody in front of me by a huge margin that I can try to grab.”
Having the lead pack all together during practice may actually prove beneficial in some ways.
“We’re definitely more team-based now than before,” Spoonamore said. “We’re mostly operating all together; we’re going the same pace and stuff. Before, everyone was just dying because we had to keep up with (Jefferson), but now we’re just all working together, trying to get faster together.”
Whiteland won a conference championship last season and hopes to defend that while also at least repeating its runner-up performances in the county, sectional and regional meets.
Just because the Warriors lost their lead runner doesn’t mean that everything will change. Quite the contrary; Emerson isn’t really approaching this season any differently, and his team’s mindset is the same now as it was when Jefferson was still around.
“Most of these kids, like Will, want to be the best they can be,” Emerson said, “so you have that same element of, ‘What’s it going to take to get to the level I can be at, to be the best I can be as a senior?’ — and some of them are thinking about their future as well.”
High school is a finite four-year deal; stars graduate every year, and others move forward to fill the void. It’s the circle of life.
This year’s Warriors, particularly the seniors, appear ready to embrace their new place in that circle this fall.
“Without (Jefferson), me and Michael have just really got to step up,” Spoonamore said. “We’ve just got to get better.”
