Mason’s Meisner named boys cross country Region Coach of the Year – Monroe Evening News

Success breeds success.

That’s been the case for Erie Mason’s boys cross country team for many years.

Coming into this season, the Eagles had won five league titles over the past six years, including each of its first two seasons as part of the Tri-County Conference. Add Regional titles and trips to the state meet as a team, and it’s obvious that a winning culture has thrived in Erie.

But it never gets easier.

Mason was forced to replace two of its top three runners this year. Still, the Eagles thrived.

“I knew we had people that could step up,” Mason coach Alison Meisner said. “We knew we had holes to fill. There’s always a level of concern, but if they put in the work, they should be able to get it done.”

The Eagles won nine meets, including their first Regional championship since 2017 and third straight TCC championship. The season culminated at state with a 14th-place finish.

For all her team’s success, Meisner has been named the Monroe County Region boys cross country Coach of the Year by the Monroe News for the second straight season. It is the sixth time that Meisner has won the award.

There was reason for Meisner’s concern.

Despite graduating just three seniors last year, two of them were among the team’s fastest. Last year, only three Eagles posted times under 18:00 and only the team’s top runner, Jackson Ansel, was returning.

Meisner hoped the taste of success the team had last year would help push the underclassmen.

“I don’t work with them over the summer,” she said. “I give them workouts, but they have to do it on their own. They know if they want to have success in the fall, it has to start over the summer. They have to want it.”

When practice started up near the end of the summer, Meisner could see that their desire was as strong as ever.

“I could see we were ahead of where we were last year,” she said. “They were all improved. They were all faster from the beginning of the season.”

This season, Mason’s top seven runners all posted career-best times.

Ansel held his role as one of the top runners in the Region, dropping over 20 seconds to hit a PR of 16:23.2.

The biggest drops came from Austin Sulier, who improved from a PR of 18:43.3 last year to 17:23.5 this season; Parker Campbell, who dropped his PR to 17:23.5 from 18:43.3 last year; and Ryan Joyce, who ran a PR of 17:29.0 this season after hitting a season-best 19:55.7 last year.

Jackson Carner, Parker Sorg, and Garrett Wall also had the best seasons of their high school careers and all ran sub-19 times.

“They turned a little more serious about it,” Meisner said. “They were all working to improve. I think they saw after making it to state last year that the potential was there and now they just had to put in some more time.”

Meisner said the team’s training program is designed to get the most out of each runner by the end of the season. The Eagles go hard in the summer and early fall before hitting a taper by midseason. Practices are intense, but not long.

“We don’t do the mileage that some other teams do,” Meisner said. “Everybody runs a different type of program. Mine is a speed-based program while a lot of others run distance-based programs. We put in the miles still, but we don’t go out for long 15-mile runs or anything. I’ve had success with that, so I’ve stuck with it.”

That program resulted in multiple team victories this season. The Eagles took first place at the Erie Mason Relays, Addison Invitational, Whitmore Lake Invite, Hudson Booster Invite, Adrian Madison Invite, and the Clay Eagle Invite.

Mason also split a pair of TCC Jamborees with Madison before claiming the crown at the TCC Championship. Finishing second in the first league jamboree was “a wake-up call,” Meisner said.

“You have to be on your game every race. You have to be ready,” she added. “That was early in our training. We were probably a little tired then. But they were capable of doing it and that helped them mentally realize they needed to get down to business.”

That mindset helped carry the Eagles through the end of the season. After finishing third at Regionals last year, Mason rolled to victory this season with 61 points. Clinton was the next closest team at 72.

“We all felt we were ready,” Meisner said. “We just had to perform on that day.”

At the state finals, Mason took 14th place for the second straight year. The goal was top 10, Meisner said.

“I think some of them didn’t have the race they were hoping to have,” she said. “Hopefully, that will motivate them for next year.”

Mason will need all the motivation it can get. The graduation of Ansel, Joyce, and Sorg will leave another hole that needs to be filled.

“We’re losing a lot obviously,” Meisner said. “But we have young guys who have been improving and moving up. Hopefully they’ll step up and make an impact. … Hopefully they’ll have a good track season and then put the time in over the summer. It’s all up to them.”