This Sept. 1, Monmouth College cross country coach Roger Haynes will experience a similar youth movement.

Haynes’ men’s team is the defending Midwest Conference champion, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at his roster. Five of the team’s seven all-conference runners that brought the Fighting Scots their first title since 1996 have either graduated or used up their fall sports eligibility, leaving the veteran coach with an unproven lineup heading into Saturday’s season-opening meet at Augustana.

After being senior-dominated in 2006, it’s the sophomore class that should carry the most weight this fall. Classmates Clay Staley and Brad Begyn are the most established runners on the team, both earning all-conference honors last year. Staley was actually Monmouth’s No. 1 man at the MWC meet, placing fourth, while Begyn took 19th.

"They both are much more fit than they were at this time last year," said Haynes, who is in his eighth season as the Scots’ cross country coach.

Other runners expected to contribute on the men’s side are seniors Adam Rodriguez and Seth Leitner, junior Damon Bautista, sophomore Matt Peharda and freshmen Tim Bentz (Dixon), Derek Huff (Edmonds, Va.), Craig Maher (Oak Lawn), Drew Peterson (Lyons), Alan Rosiquez (Taft) and Scott Sheller (Morton).

Only one of those runners (Leitner, who was the No. 5 man at the team’s final meet) scored for the Scots last season, and Leitner also scored twice in 2005. Rodriguez added a top five team finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional Meet in 2004. Besides Staley and Begyn, that is the extent of the returners’ previous scoring contributions, meaning at least one team member will score for the first time on Saturday. Haynes said the best bets to do so are Bautista and Peharda, with Maher, Peterson and Sheller possibly contributing, too.

Leitner, who spent a month abroad this summer, is behind his normal schedule but should be ready later, benefitting from Haynes’ strategic scheduling.

"We’re racing less this year and training more," said Haynes, whose team is idle from meets on two September weekends and another in October. "We’re doing that so we can be ready for the conference meet (Oct. 27 in Jacksonville) and have as many all-conference runners as we can."

Incredibly, the women’s team is even younger than the men, as there are no juniors or seniors on the roster. However, the Scots could still continue their steady improvement from the past three years. The women, who have moved up at the conference meet from eighth in 2004 to seventh and then to fifth last fall, return their top runner, Katie Staab. She will look to become the team’s first back-to-back All-MWC performer since Carrie Knauer accomplished the feat in 1995 through 1997. Monmouth is also looking to finish higher than fifth as a team for the first time since that 1997 season.

"There’s a big difference with her knowledge-wise from where she was a year ago," said Haynes. "From a consistency standpoint, she’s going to be a leader for us."

Joining Staab at the head of the pack should be freshman Mary Kate Beyer, an all-state runner from East Peoria.

"She’s the foundational ability piece that we’ve needed in the women’s program," said Haynes. "We’ve been looking for that, and she’s the start of it. From here, we want to develop these two classes," which also feature sophomores Amy Aghababian, Briana Flynn, Sara Ditzler, Allison Carroll and Whitney Maher and newcomers Brooke Potendyk (East Peoria), Whitney Didier (Dixon) and Jayme Ayers (Normal West).

Haynes expects Flynn, Aghababian, Ayers and Ditzler to follow Staab and Beyer across the finish line at Monmouth’s September meets. By later in the season, Potendyk and Didier should also be threats to join the top five.

"We’ve wanted to improve our frontrunners, and I think we can do that now," said Haynes of the women. "If you score low at the top, you can improve your team score, and that’s certainly the goal for the women this fall."

Like a September baseball roster, the Scots’ cross country names might not be familiar yet. But check back soon, because some of these runners are the stars of tomorrow.

Men's Cross Country  |  Women's Cross Country