Two days after the season ended last November, the Lexington girls’ cross-country team sat down for an impromptu two-hour meeting at Starbucks.
The Minutemen entered last season with a young lineup and modest expectations, before surging to a runner-up finish at the Division 1 All-State meet and a sixth-place result at Nike Regionals. With the energy of the season still fresh, coach Rebecca Trachsel used the meeting to set the tone for the months ahead.
“I just laid it out for them,” Trachsel said. “I told them, ‘we were very, very strong this year, and we have the opportunity to do something really special next year. And if you want it, it is all there for you. But it is going to require you to be even more committed and more connected.’ ”
Lexington opens the season ranked No. 1 in the Globe’s Top 20, with star sophomore Janie Conrad headlining the return of the team’s top seven runners. In line with Trachsel’s message, the team made an effort to continue building momentum throughout the offseason — from more bonding events, to well-attended summer workouts, to holding each other accountable during training sessions.
“We didn’t forget about that conversation,” said senior Thayer DiCerbo. “We were thinking about cross-country when we started outdoor [track], we were still thinking about cross-country when we went into the summer . . . These goals are now ingrained into our heads, knowing this is what we want this season and this is what we can achieve.”
The Minutemen’s state title ambitions begin with Conrad, who finished seventh at the Meet of Champions and 17th at Nike Regionals last fall. Her win in the 2-mile (11 minutes, 18.71 seconds) helped Lexington capture the Division 1 indoor track title last winter, and in outdoor she placed second in the 2-mile (10:38.62) at the D1 championship meet.
“Midway through last [cross-country] season, I started really learning how to run with a pack and competing with those around me,” Conrad said. “That’s definitely when I was like, ‘OK, I know how to race high schoolers now.’ And then during the track seasons, I think I just got better and better.”
Trachsel believes an uptick in Conrad’s confidence will go hand-in-hand with taking another leap among the state’s upper-echelon.
“She needs to mentally put herself in that category with the top girls in our state and some of the top girls in the region, and trust that she’s supposed to be there with them,” said Trachsel.
“I think last year she saw that a little bit, but maybe was like, ‘I’m a freshman and I’m new,’ and got on the line sometimes assuming she was not the same level as some of these girls. What we are trying to show her this year is [she is] there.”
The rest of Lexington’s lineup is deep and proven at the state level, with senior Meghan Caldera, juniors Alycia Charest, Erin Ehmann, and Callie Glenn, and sophomore Ella Tyson each finishing inside the top 60 at last year’s D1 All-States.
“The amount of great runners we have is amazing,” Glenn said. “Having those girls around me is helping me push myself harder, because I have to keep up with them. But also it’s like they’re empowering me. I want to do it for them. I want to stay in that group.”
The team also made an effort to spend more time together away from running, which included planned events such as beach days and smaller activities like getting ice cream together after practice.
“We did a lot of team bonding and other activities like that, just so we could remember our longer term goals and keep supporting each other,” said Caldera. “We just all have gotten so much closer, and I think we’ll see that pay off.”
Reflecting on the months since the end-of-season Starbucks meeting, Lexington’s runners feel confident they took the right steps to maximize this season. Now, it’s time to show it.
“It’s taken us a long time to get recognized, and it took us a while to build our team,” DiCerbo said. “Now we have this great group of girls who are really, really motivated and ready to take this on.”
Hitting the trails
▪ Battling injuries did not slow down St. John’s Prep last fall. The Eagles finished second in the competitive Catholic Conference behind BC High. And even after the graduation of Daniel Padley, the Prep is ready to soar again.
Senior Liam Mahoney emerged as the top runner last season and senior Jack McIntosh followed closely behind. Junior Mateo DeOrio returns after missing part of last season due to illness, to which he rejoins a strong junior class of Leo Seltenrich, Henry McDonnell, and Hunter Opal.
“I would say it was a successful season in a vacuum, regardless of the circumstances, but especially considering the hardships that we had with our top two guys,” said third-year coach Rob O’Chander. “I was very impressed with the athletes’ ability to step up.”
With promising underclassmen and a healthy, deep roster, the Eagles will make a strong case to compete for the conference title.
“I think it’ll be tough to narrow it down to seven [runners] and I’ll probably have to hurt some feelings,” O’Chander said. “That’ll be new, I think, but . . . that’s a good problem to have.”
. The early season invitational schedule is highlighted by the MSTCA Relays on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Highland Park in Attleboro, and the Frank Kelly Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Wrentham Developmental Center.
Correspondent Aiden Barker contributed to this story.
Matty Wasserman can be reached at matty.wasserman@globe.com. Follow him @Matty_Wasserman.