Some serious trepidation accompanied Tony Weiss’ first cross country meet this season.

Sure, he performed quite well the year before, finishing fourth in Class 4A at the state meet for Baldwin High. But would that success carry over to this year, Weiss wondered, when tangible expectations existed?

Last year, he was just a freshman, rough around the edges. This year, he had committed himself to summer workouts and leading the Bulldogs at every meet.

Weiss quelled his own concerns with a resounding first-place finish in the team’s first meet this season at Anderson County.

“That helped me get the pressure off my back a little bit and got me more relaxed,” Weiss said.

Then, he followed that meet up with another win.

And three more the rest of the season for good measure.

Weiss had such a successful season, in fact, that he was named the Journal-World’s all-area cross country male athlete of the year.

Not bad for a young man who’s just a sophomore and had zero cross country experience until his freshman season.

“He’s very, very competitive,” said Baldwin cross country coach Mike Spielman. “I think that’s the thing that really stands out, and he works super hard and tries to do all the little things to be a really good runner. He’s one of those guys that doesn’t show pain. He just realizes it’s gonna hurt and just keeps going.”

Much of Weiss’ success this season came from a dedication to improve his times from his freshman year by participating in grueling summer workouts.

“My freshman year, I didn’t really have a clue really how to train for cross country,” Weiss said. “Then, after I got one year under my belt, I trained a lot harder knowing what I needed to do. So that helped me a lot, just a bigger summer with a lot more miles.”

In total, Weiss won five of the eight meets in which he competed, including the league and regional meet. He finished first among the Bulldog boys at all eight. He also finished in second place at the Class 4A state meet, ahead of the defending state champion from Mulvane.

There’s more good news, too. Weiss has two more full seasons of high school running in which to improve.

“That’s a pretty good feeling,” Spielman said. “The one kid that beat him at state was a senior. Yeah, it’s good to know that he’s coming back.”