Newman men’s cross country begins title defense

The goal for Newman men’s cross country coach Josh Schepis is to find the right motivation. The proper way to push and prod a group of runners who have already accomplished so much.

This takes little effort on his part.

“The biggest thing we’ve talked about this year is we’re no longer chasing what we’re after,” said Schepis, who is in his 15th season. “We’re in the mindset of now, we’re the hunted. Everything we do is in preparation to defend what we’ve done last year … to defend that title.

“Sometimes, there’s a letdown when you accomplish something big. With this group, it seems like they’re working harder to keep it, to build on what they’ve done.”

The Jets are preseason favorites to defend their Heartland Conference title and do something that hasn’t been done in Schepis’ tenure – repeat as league champions. Newman won its fourth title under Schepis last season following championships in 2004, 2006 and 2012.

The Jets open the season on Saturday at the JK Gold Classic in Augusta with almost their entire team back from last season, including all seven top runners.

“It’s such a deep group, and that’s what helps the team in practice,” Schepis said. “They’re being pushed by their teammates on a regular basis.”

Leading the pack of returners is junior Jacob Wallace, an Andale product who finished third in the Heartland Conference meet in Wichita last season and is one of five Jets on the roster who finished in the top 10 at the conference meet.

“Coming out of Andale, (Wallace) was a good runner, he just needed a team that could push him,” Schepis said. “Once he got in here and started working with the team on a daily basis, he took off. He’s incredibly motivated … not so much by how winning makes him feel, but by the fear of losing. He doesn’t like that at all.”

Wallace had the lead in the league meet last season with just over a mile left, but came out of a wooded area almost 45 seconds behind the leader.

“That’s always up there as far as motivation,” Wallace said. “Also knowing I only have two more years left to run, two more season left to make a mark. I think winning the league title has done a lot for us headed into this year … it didn’t surprise me that we had five finish in the top 10, it surprised me that we all had good days.”

Keneth Kimani (fifth), Nick Martin (sixth), Joey Kenneson (seventh) and Kenton Weber (10th) also return. Having a veteran group also means that most of the usual, early-season stuff gets shuffled away. In place of it: More training.

“It always sucks when one guy graduates, because you get so close throughout the season,” Kenneson said. “Having almost everybody come back this year, everyone knows each other so we don’t have to go through all that getting-to-know stuff again. We can get down to it.”

Also, with a veteran group, the preseason kudos don’t mean much.

“It’s a good confidence booster that all these coaches think we’ll win, but we don’t get too carried away with it,” Kenneson said. “We’ve still got to go out and work our hardest, we’ll still get out there and give it everything we have. If we’re voted to win, it doesn’t mean anything if we blow it.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Newman men’s cross country begins title defense."