Seabury Academy's Geneva Claflin, left, Lawrence High's Kelly Renfro, center, and Free State High's Kyra Kilwien will look to lead the local cross country teams to success in 2007.

Senior cross country runners from left, Bill Butler, Seabury Academy, Dylan Hedges, Lawrence High and Gabe Moss, Free State High, will pace three city boys teams looking to make a splash during the 2007 season.

Lawrence’s three high school cross country teams have all posted impressive finishes in the past.

This year, they’re hoping to raise the bar.

With talent, experience and a few new faces sprinkled throughout each program, Lawrence High, Free State High and Seabury Academy all are looking to take a step forward in 2007.

LHS is the team that returns the most. The boys will be led by senior Dylan Hedges. Hedges, and fellow-senior Peter Monshizadeh will serve as captains for coach Brian Anderson, who led the LHS boys to third place at state last season. He said this year’s team is one of the best he’s had.

“We’re stronger now than we were last year at this time,” Anderson said.

That’s thanks in large part to team depth. Anderson said the competition for varsity spots from week to week will be more intense than ever. Sophomore Roy Wedge and junior Ben Wilson round out the list of varsity returners. But Anderson said he expected underclassmen such as Walter Summers, Cody Jones, Jonathan Gabler and Michael Lindeman to push the veterans.

On the girls side of things, Anderson returns a handful of runners from last year’s state qualifier. At the top of the list is senior co-captain Kelly Renfro, who finished eighth at state as a junior.

Joining Renfro as captains are twin sisters Jennifer and Kristina Taylor and Sue Schwartz. All three are seniors and each contributed heavily a season ago.

Anderson expects the varsity competition for his girls to be equally rugged. Seniors Kaela Severa and Jaymie Hardtafer, along with juniors Alissa Freeman, Paula Stamm, Katie Stohs and Kati Wheatley, figure to make that a reality.

The exact same can’t be said for Free State. The talent is there, but this year’s Firebirds lack varsity experience.

But head coach Steve Hefernan has his share of gems. Senior Gabe Moss and junior J.D. Wiebe will lead the boys squad, while a trio of state qualifiers from a season ago – Kyra Kilwien, Jeanie Weems and Morgan Flanigan – will lead the girls.

After that is where the fun starts. Three standout freshmen – Amy Meyers, Haley Francis and Logan Sloan for the boys – have a shot to contribute right away, but Hefernan said he expects several juniors and sophomores to factor into the equation.

“This is probably the most talented boys-and-girls combination we’ve had,” he said. “We’ve had good boys teams in the past and good girls teams in the past but never at the same time.”

Meanwhile, at the 1A level, Seabury appears to be a cross between the two 6A schools.

“We are kind of reloading,” Seabury coach Eric Nelson said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces, and a good goal for us is a top-10 finish at state.”

Last season, the Seahawks took seventh at state, and Bill Butler, who placed in the top 30, is the team’s top returner.

After Butler, a handful of runners will battle for varsity spots, and several have separated themselves from the pack.

Gus Wigen-Toccalino, Reed Grabill, Tom Henry, Guy Williams, Karel Hill, William Wolfe and Dacotah Hasvold figure to earn varsity time.

The Seahawks’ girls are led by Brooke Sutherland and Gabrielle Dillon.

“They will be the heart and soul of the cross country team this year,” said Nelson.

Two freshmen could fill the No. 3 and 4 spots for Seabury, as Mei Butler and Geneva Claflin have shown the ability to compete at the varsity level.

Seabury kicks off the city’s cross country action today when it travels to the Jeff-West Invitational. LHS and Free State will open Saturday in Manhattan.