The Bradford girls cross country team returns seven letter winners in search of its first District 9 championship since 2015.
After a strong second place showing at the 2020 District 9 championships, the team is poised to bring a title back to Bradford.
“We had a very good season last year and we fell a little bit short at districts,” coach Mark Kelley said. “We only lost one runner from last year’s team (Hannah Lary) and most of the team got a great year of experience and understands what it takes to compete at that level.”
Junior co-captains Elisa Hayden and Abby Schleicher will be tasked with leading this year’s Lady Owls.
“(Hayden) has really stepped up from last year to this year,” Kelley said. “She has gotten in terrific shape coming into the season. She has been very dedicated outside of practice to put herself in a position to run at a higher level this year.”
Schleicher enters her third season, and Kelley has noticed her improvement over the past two years.
“(Schleicher) is a district champion in the 200m and 400m in outdoor track and has put in a lot of time over the summer to be in our top five runners,” Kelley said. “I think both (Hayden) and (Schleicher) are going to have a big year.”
The team’s sophomore class is its largest, with five returning letter winners, headlined by returning D9 champion and fourth place state medalist Korie Dixon.
“(Dixon) truly had a spectacular breakout year last year,” Kelley said. “She was first in every meet except for the state meet. She set the freshman school record and recorded the 2nd fastest time in school history.”
Dixon is the highest state place finisher among any runner from Bradford High, and is currently ranked 12th in the state of Pennsylvania by PenntrackXC. Dixon will serve as the team’s third co-captain alongside Hayden and Schleicher.
Kelley also has high expectations for Caitlyn Taylor, who finished fourth at the district championship meet a year ago.
“(Taylor) is a very steady runner and I can always count on her to be up in the front pack,” Kelley said. “She runs hard every race and gives all her effort in each race.”
Dixon and Taylor are joined by fellow sophomores Aubrey Cruz, Leila Bines and Kendall Gracey-Dalton, the former of which finished 10th at districts last year.
“(Cruz) is a key part of our team and she will lead our 3-7 pack of runners,” Kelley said. “If she can steadily improve throughout the year, it will be a big year for the team.”
Kelley noted that Bines had a very strong summer, as she rebounded from an injury that kept her out of last season’s final month before turning in a strong spring track campaign. Now that Gracey-Dalton has a year of varsity experience, he said, she will be able to compete for one of the team’s seven varsity spots, as well.
The Lady Owls will feature two freshmen, Karsyn Gracey-Dalton and Mayla Smith.
“Both of these girls came up through the junior high team and have been part of the team for the past two years,” Kelley said. “Karysn was our top runner on the junior high team last year and has looked very good the past few weeks in practice. She will compete for one of those top seven spots soon. (Smith) has looked very good in practice the last few weeks and once she gets some races in her, she is going to improve and push the older girls for a spot in the top seven.”
After falling just short of a district title last year, the Lady Owls enter their ‘21 campaign motivated. Large invitationals featuring quality competition, Kelley said, will help prepare them for the postseason.
“We have a combination of youth and talent that should give us a strong team all the way down to our ninth runner,” Kelley said. “There is a lot of promise in this year. The girls had some great races last year and are really excited about our schedule and the chance to compete at some large invitationals this year. I think that will really help them progress throughout the season.”
After kicking off their fall ‘21 campaign at the McDowell Invitational over the weekend, the Lady Owls swept a pair of wins over St. Marys and Kane on Tuesday.
