2007 Season: 3rd place NEMC

Coach: Chris Owens

Returning athletes: Brittany Combs, sr., distance, mid-distance; Amy Johnson, jr., sprints, / mid-distance; Charity Cardinal, jr., mid-distance; Julie Enzenberger, jr., pole vault /sprints / distance; Samantha Duvall, jr., long jump/ hurdles / sprints; Abbie Hutchison, so., distance; Kaitlin Challenger, so., long jump / sprints / mid-distance; Kelsea Bischoff, so., throws; Rachel Faught, so., hurdles; Sara Blust, so., high jump / sprints.

Outlook: Chris Owens, the Braves' cross country coach, takes over the girls track and field program, but it may take awhile for her to know exactly what potential her team holds. Only 10 of the 29 athletes return from a season ago, with distance runner Brittany Combs the lone returning senior.

“Our team is quite young,” she says,” so I'm not sure what to expect yet.”

Most of the 10 returners had promising performances a year ago, In addition to Combs, Abbie Hutchison returns to the distance events; junior Julie Enzenberger is the leading returning pole vaulter while sophomore Kelsea Bischoff returns to the throwing events. Rachel Faught, also a sophomore, and junior Samantha Duvall finished strong in the hurdles; juniors Amy Johnson and Charity Cardinal (sprints and middle distance) lend experience to the shorter events, while sophomores Kaitlin Challenger and Sara Blust return in the jumps and sprints.

The Braves, who will also be able to run on their home track for the first time in several years, will have to find the right places to put a host of new faces, including a number of additions from the cross country squad (Olivia Bolen, Chelsea Smith, Shanna Britt and freshman state qualifier Emily Short). But with a number of teams facing a lot of questions in their lineup this season, the NEMC race could be very unpredictable, and the Braves could very well be a factor come late May.