After losing two four-year lettermen to graduation and having another two-year letterwinner not returning, the Owls are faced with a rebuilding year and will have to rely on two juniors who will serve as Co-Captains to lead the team this season. Key members lost were Brayden Frair who placed in States and also set five track records in the Spring. He is currently running for Lock Haven University. Joe Caruso also had a very good career in Cross Country and Track. They will be difficult to replace.

Juniors Kadyn Tessena and Evan Troisi are working on their third letter in cross country and also have lettered twice in Track. Tessena finished 12th and Evan was 16th in the District Championship last year and both have an opportunity to earn a trip to States this season. Tessena made all 19 preseason conditioning sessions and has run over 400 miles since June 1. He also has run in three track meets this summer and 1 5k Race.

“Kadyn will be much improved from last year. He and Evan also attended Cross Camp at Slippery Rock University in June. Evan has also ran quite a bit this summer as well,” Bradford Coach Tom Tessena said. “He had some very good races last year and did well in the invitationals. These two guys are the heart of the team and will have to step up and be team leaders.

“We do have three sophomores who also lettered last season. Jordan Pogue was our 4th best runner last year. He has made almost all of our conditioning sessions and has look very good in our regular practices. Jordan also lettered in Track last spring and placed in Districts in the 4x800M relay. He is going to be very good but will need some time to develop. Nikolai and Xavier Frontino also lettered in Cross Country last year. They have run more this this summer but are not quite where they need to be. All three of these guys will need to come through for us if we are going to beat anyone.”

The Owls’ roster is rounded out by six additional members, all trying to get in the top 7.

“We have one senior, Tony McDonald, who ran last year. There are two juniors, Kamil Chen and Cavan Drake, who have some potential and did some running this summer. They will both have to really work hard to get in shape where they can help us,” Tessena said. “Miles Hawk is a sophomore and Langdon Krepp and Owen Tingley are Freshmen with all having run last year. Langdon and Owen where on the middle school team while Miles ran Varsity.

Coach Tom Tessena begins his 46th year as Head boys Cross Country Coach to go along with 55 years as Head Boys Track Coach.

“We have strong competition this year from St.Marys as usual but Brookville would have to be a heavy favorite to win our District. Punxy also has three very strong runners and cannot never be counted out,” he stated. “With top notch coaches at all three schools it will make it very tough on us to be competitive this season. Clearfield will also have runners in the mix for State Meet berths.

“We have a have a different schedule this year with 6 dual meets and a Championship meet in the new District 9 League in addition to five invitationals in addition to our own Bradford Invitational. I don’t particularly like the number of dual meets we have but those were required to be members of the league.”

Bradford opens with a home meet on Tuesday, Aug 26 with St.Marys, DCC, and Northern Potter.

“I expect St. Marys to be strong as usual although they lost some of their top runners. They are always strong and will feature some of the best younger runners in the area. We will go to Lock Haven on Saturday, Aug 30 for the Bear Mountain River Run that will also give us a better idea of where we are,” Tessena said. “With no Seniors and only two juniors in our top five and 3 Sophomores we will have some growing pains in the early going of the season. We will work through almost all of the dual meets and concentrate on improving with our sights on Districts at the end of October.

“We will go to the Red Dragon Invitational at Bemus Point, NY, the Bradford Invitational, the PIAA Foundation Race, the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester, NY, and the Rocky Grove Invitational. We will have a District 9 League Meet on Thursday, Oct. 16 and the District 9 AA Championship on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Ridgway. Hopefully we will have a few guys who move on to the PA State Meet on Saturday, Nov. 1. Those Invitationals are the key to getting better against quality competition. Those are great opportunities to find out what you are made of.

Bradford’s Schedule:

Aug.26 Home St.Marys, DCC, Northern Potter 4:15PM Start

Aug 30 at Lock Haven Bear Mountain River Run 10:00am

Sept 2 Home DuBois, Brockway 5:15 PM Start

Sept. 6 Red Dragon Invitational at Bemus Point,NY 9:30 am

Sept 9 at Punxy with DCC 4:15 pm

Sept. 13 Home 22nd Annual Bradford Invitational 9:30 am

Sept. 16 Home SENIOR Night -Kane, Ridgway 5:15 pm start

Sept. 20 PIAA Foundation Race Hershey, PA 11 am

Sept 23 at Kane with Ridgway 4:15 pm

Sept. 27 McQuaid Invitational in Rochester, NY 10 am

Sept. 30 at Brockway with Ridgway 4:15pm

Oct. 11 Rocky Grove Invitational 10 am

Oct 16 District 9 League Meet at Ridgway 4 pm

Oct. 25 PIAA District 9 AA Championship Meet at Ridgway 9 am

Nov. 1 PA State Championship Meet Hershey, PA 10 am