It doesn’t matter the year—like most of our top-six teams, Cumberland always seems to be in the mix in rankings like these. The Clippers lost three runners from last year’s squad, which finished third at the Class A Championships and fifth at the State Meet.
Cumberland returns some strong runners, but depth was a concern last season. That could change this year. Head coach Kerri Carpenter is optimistic, describing her team as a gritty bunch that has already put in an honest summer of training.
Leading the way is senior Jake Schonhoff, the Clippers’ top returnee. Schonhoff placed tenth at the Class A meet and 17th at states, where he ran a 5K best of 16:30.32. He also had a solid track season, recording bests of 4:35.83 for the mile and 4:11.07 for the 1,500 meters. Among the runners in the state, Schonhoff is a potential top-10 performer; a low 16-minute 5K would likely secure that spot.
Backing him up is a quality quartet of senior teammates Colin Peterson and Noah Brown, junior Ethan Libby, and sophomore Brayden Rivello, who ran times ranging from 17:17 to 17:41 last year. To move higher than our No. 4 ranking, the Clippers will need contributions from the back end of their lineup. Carpenter pointed to freshmen Cooper Magill and Jonathan Stowick as runners who could make an immediate impact.
