Losing your head coach and your top performers on the boys' and girls' sides can change the complexion of a team pretty quickly.
Don't expect that to be the case with this season's Douglas High cross country program.
While Douglas loses 2007 regional champion Whitney Lindsey, state qualifier Derrik Jenkins and longtime head coach Keith Cole, new head coach Jay Frey said he doesn't expect things to change too much.
"I got to watch what Keith did last year," said Frey, who was the girls' coach in 2007. "What he did with the program has worked for so long, I didn't want to change it up too much. It's pretty much the same basic system.
"It's a variety of workouts we'll be doing with the kids this season, running trails, swimming, playing some games. We'll just be mixing things up and trying to keep it interesting and fun."
The team certainly won't be light on the personnel end, even though about six or seven athletes have missed the first week due to family vacations and prior engagements.
"We haven't all been here yet, but we worked out two days a week all summer," Frey said. "We've got a strong group."
Leading the group of returners on the girls' team this year will be three-time state qualifier Taylor Biaggi. Frey also noted senior Amanda Boyd, who has logged more than 500 miles during the offseason.
"They're both looking very strong," Frey said. "They've put in the work and they should be our top two."
Amber Emerson, Michelle Lampson, Shannon Sturgess and Liz Nickles are all athletes with high school experience that Frey believes could come on strong this season.
It's a group of freshman runners, though, that has made an immediate impression.
Sadie Gastelum and Brie Chabot are the early favorites to take the team's No. 3 and No. 4 spots.
"There are still a lot of unknowns right now as far as where we stack up," Frey said. "But right now, it's looking like our top four will be two seniors and two freshman.
That's a great thing."
Another freshman who has been impressive early on is Kylen Flannagan.
"We lose Whitney, which is big, but I think we will fill in very nicely with the group we have coming back," Frey said.
On the boys' side, the Tigers' have a large slate of returners.
Seniors Brad Boyd and James Leornard both ran on the school's 4x800 relay regional championship team last track season and figure to be among the Tigers' top cross country runners this year.
Scott Lococo is entering his third season with the team while Corey Trujillo is entering his fourth. Both will be fighting for a spot in the top four as well.
Senior Eddie Kollar returns to the team as well.
As deep as the returning core is, Frey said he's seen a couple of promising newcomers as well, most notably freshmen Tanner DeGiovanni and Andrew Coburn. First-year runner Jeremy Tigh has been looking solid the first week of practice as well.
"That was the weird thing about our summer workouts," Frey said. "We got about 10 or 12 kids out each time, and the bulk of the group was freshmen.
"We worked a lot on speed and strength, so we are heading into the year with a young squad, but they are all very strong."
Frey has brought Tony Brown onto the coaching staff this year. Brown is entering his first year as a teacher at the high school.
Only two boys' teams and two girls' teams will be advancing on to state this year.
"It'll be tough to qualify for state, but that is always a goal for us," Frey said. "Even with the restructuring of the leagues, I definitely see us in the top four in both the boys' and girls' standings, so hopefully we can send two full teams on to regionals.
"It's a good group of kids and they are already working hard. We'll just keep at it and see how it turns out."
- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
