ALBANY — At the SWAL conference meet in 2019, Albany’s girls team finished third, while the boys were eighth. Coach Tony Brewer, now in his 22nd year at the helm, knows there is room for improvement for both squads.

“I believe this (girls) team has the talent to compete with the top teams in our conference and sectional, so hopefully with continued hard work and staying healthy, that at the end of the season we can compete with all the contenders,” Brewer said. I expect them to come into practice ready to improve each day and week with the attitude that they want to reach their full potential by late October.”

Emileigh Dallman, a junior, was an all-conference runner in each of the last two seasons. Fellow juniors Payton Wachholz and Kaiya Zurfluh also return after top-20 finishes last year.

Two young runners that made a big impact in 2019 were McKenna Broughton and Linsey Mueller, each notching all-conference honors as freshmen. Mueller was the team’s top-finisher in every meet. Senior Olivia Roth and freshmen Ava Ahnen and Avary Briggs round out the roster. Brewer said he hopes to challenge Darlington and Boscobel for the league crown this fall.

“I talked about depth on varsity as being a strength, but depth overall will be a weakness with only eight girls going out currently. We can’t afford any injuries with numbers being that low,” Brewer said. “For this team to take the next step and become a conference, sectional and state contender, they have to develop confidence that they can go out and run with the top teams.”

On the boys side, Brewer said the team’s goals are simple — to improve on last season’s results. He said he wants each individual to become a better runner each week, which in turn would help the lineup reach its full potential by the end of the season.

“I’m not sure how good we can be, but I expect this team to be competitive with some second-tier teams,” Brewer said. “I am not sure we can compete with the top teams at conference or sectionals, but I believe if they commit themselves to working hard on a daily basis and take pride at preparing to do well at meets, we can be much improved from last year.”

Owen Baertschi is the lone senior on the boys side, with juniors Andy Gertsch and Jesse Schwartz also serving as upperclassmen. Sophomores Brian Cid and Gage Roth round out the returning runners, with junior Ben Grosz and freshmen Drew Sertle and Brayden Bakken joining the mix. Roth was the squad’s lone all-conference runner in 2019.

“I think we will be able to do some group running in practice and hopefully in meets as well. Hopefully training in groups will help all individuals improve,” Brewer said. “We also will need a leader to step up and set the tone at practice and meets, and make sure everything is getting done the right way to accomplish our goals.”