This season was about the future, and the future is bright. Cathedral High School boys cross-country was very much about building a foundation in the fall of 2024. That goal was reached, and that was good. The season was about leadership, and that leadership established a tone. “The main focus was learning how to do things right,” Brian Gross said. Gross, the Irish’s girls cross-country coach since 2023, took over as head coach of the boys program in 2024. It was a program made up of a strong senior class with an eye for the future with some young runners who should form the core of the program moving forward. “The No. 1 thing that stood out was an outstanding group of seniors,” Gross said. “They were hard workers, good guys. They were always looking for a way to pitch in and help out. Their competitiveness and their grind really stood out. “My only regret was I wish I would've got a chance to coach those seniors for the last four years. I'm proud of the success they had this season.” Leading the Irish in 2024 was senior Will Wise, who missed the postseason with a stress fracture after running in the 16:40s during the regular season. Wise is considering running collegiately. “I'm really excited about that for him,” Gross said. “He dedicated himself to it. It made a huge difference to the program across the board.” The Irish boys finished seventh in the Section 17 meet at Mount Vernon with 236 points. Senior Joe Mervilde finished 38th in 17:59.9 with senior Mick Webb finishing 43rd in 18:04.9, sophomore Ben Sage finishing 47th in 18:17.1, senior Aidan Cunningham finishing 49th in 18:22.5, sophomore Luke Mervilde finishing 59th in 19:05.2, junior Oliver Thompson finishing 61st in 19:22.6 and junior Alex Batt finishing 62nd in 19:30.0. Webb finished 182nd at the Region 4 meet at Shelbyville in 18:31.17 with Mervilde finishing 191st in 18:36.2 and Sage finishing 197th in 18:39.5. “We had two seniors and one sophomore advance,” Gross said, adding of Sage, “I think he’s going to be good.” “He has a good attitude, he’s positive,” Gross said of Sage. “I’m excited to see what the next two years look like for him.” The Irish in 2024 also featured a core of freshman that included Keigan Yost and Jacob Beeson, and JV runner Julian Lanahan. Sage and the seniors helped establish principles in the program, a process that was the focus from the time he took over as head coach in the ’24 offseason. “We knew this was going to be a rebuilding year,” Gross said. “When I was announced in that position, I was already at coaching track. We rolled the boys right in. The big focus was, ‘OK, this is how we warm up, this is how we activate, this is how we stretch – doing all those little things right.’ “I tell them all the time, ‘I can't guarantee you success, but I can guarantee if you don't do these things, you won't be successful.’ ” Gross said a foundation of the program moving forward also will be making a difficult sport fun. “We really adopted that mentality,” he said. “We want to be excited. If they’re excited about it, they're going to bring friends out. They’re just going to bring more kinds coming forth.” Irish boys cross-country also will continue to grow, having featured 20-to-21 runners in 2024 and likely adding numbers in that area moving forward. “If we get ourselves to 30, we're going to have a much healthier, deeper roster of athletes to pull from,” Gross said. “That's the main focus for me, just creating an atmosphere kids want to be in. “We’re trying to find that core of guys who bring out their friends and are excited about what we’re doing.” And Gross said ’24 season definitely represented movement in that direction. “I can’t tell you how far they came,” he said. “We're going to do everything right along the way, and we're going to seek success by being consistent, by being optimistic, by supporting one another, being coachable, committed – all of those things. “We’re going to do the little things right. That’s the mentality.”