Posted  7:00 p.m. August 19, 2007

    ‘Best-ever’ tag not out of reach for OR cross-country boys

    By Mike Blackerby
    editor@oakridgesports.com

    The best way to couch expectations for the 2007 Oak Ridge High School boys’ cross-
    country team?
    Realistically outrageous.
    To say expectations run high for coach Allen Etheridge’s charges would be the
    understatement of all understatements.
    Oak Ridge’s boys are shooting for their third-consecutive state championship -- a feat
    accomplished only two other times in TSSAA history. That was done by the Wildcats
    from 1983-85 when Etheridge was a member of the Oak Ridge squad; and by Clarksville
    from 1964-66.
    The Wildcats enter the season ranked No. 6 among high schools in the southeast by
    DyeStat. That’s the highest preseason ranking ever for an Oak Ridge cross-country team.
    To put things in perspective, if the Wildcats run up to their potential this fall, this will
    probably go down as the greatest Oak Ridge cross-country team ever.
    “I’ve always thought the ’83 team I was on was the best team ever from Oak Ridge,” said
    Etheridge. “This team has the potential to be far, far better -- and it’s not even close.”
    When a coach suggests his team has the potential to put “four or five” runners in the top
    10 at the state meet, that’s cause to sit up and take notice.
    But that’s exactly the type of expectations Etheridge has for this group of Wildcats.
    “We’ve got four guys who can play with probably anybody’s top four we’re gonna meet. I
    have a lot of confidence in this group of boys -- some of them have been with me since
    their seventh-grade year. We’re the ones with the target on our backs and we’re willing to
    accept that. We‘ve got a chance to do something great.”
    Here’s a look at OR’s projected varsity seven this fall:
    Senior captain Chris Cole appears poised for a fantastic wrap-up to a great career. Cole,
    coming off a sixth-place finish at the state meet in 2006, is on the brink of living up to his
    spectacular potential, according to Etheridge. “Chris has put together the best two months
    of running I’ve ever seen in him. He has also done a total attitude shift and a lot of
    maturing. He comes back as one of the top handful of runners in the state.”
    At No. 2, senior Maclean O’Donnell is the defending Region 2 champion. “He’s the most
    competitive guy we’ve got -- and he looks like he’s fully recovered from an injury he had at
    the end of track season. That’s as solid a 1-2 combination (with Cole and O’Donnell) as
    you’ll find in the southeast.”
    Phil Riemer, another senior, was perhaps Oak Ridge’s most-improved runner last season.
    “Phil was all-state last year, he’s a captain, and he won our time trials at camp beating
    both Chris and Maclean. He’s a quality runner.”
    Emerson Peacock hopes to build on an impressive track season in the spring where he
    uncorked a 1:58 in the state 800 meters. “Emerson has made an unbelievable amount of
    progress since last cross-country season. I’m looking at him at No. 4 to beat the other big
    teams’ twos and threes. Emerson is good enough to do it.”
    Etheridge calls No. 5-runner, senior Ethan McGroom, his wildcard. “Ethan had an
    up-and-down year last season. It was a challenging year for him, but he was always there
    when it counted. Ethan looks like one of two or three X-factors we have.”
    Another runner primed for his senior year is Cory O’Lear, penciled in at the No. 6 slot.
    “Cory played baseball last spring and it’s going to take him awhile to get in shape. He’s
    not there yet, but we have confidence in Cory to get where he needs to be.”
    Sophomore John Sharpe is the lone underclassmen to dent the Wildcats’ varsity lineup.
    “He’s our most-improved runner. His improvement during track season was just amazing.
    We’re looking at a guy who should run at four or five -- he’s clearly an all-state type of
    runner.”
    Two other Ridgers who would be top runners for most other teams are senior captain
    Aaron Oswald and junior Chris Ostrouchov.
    Etheridge called Oswald “a stabilizer” for the team.
    Title town: Another state championship would give the Oak Ridge boys eight cross-
    country titles, breaking a tie with Clarksville for the most in history among boys in
    Tennessee. Besides the last two seasons, OR’s other state titles came in 1991, 1985,
    1984, 1983 and 1980.
    Stacked schedule: Etheridge once again has almost a full slate of out-of-the-area meets
    to get Oak Ridge ready for postseason.
    Here’s Oak Ridge’s varsity schedule this fall: Sept. 8 at Maryville; Sept. 22 at McCallie
    (Chattanooga) Invitational; Sept. 29 at Maymont (Va.); Oct. 13 at Great American Cross-
    Country Festival, Birmingham, Ala.; Oct. 25 Region 2 meet at Knoxville; Nov. 3 State meet
    at Nashville.
         
                     Oak Ridge Cross-Country