The Heartland men's cross country team enters the 2023 slate with much to build on following a second-place finish at the NJCAA DII National Meet in Tallahassee, Fla. in November. Heartland returns five roster members from a season ago, all of whom are expected to be significant contributors for this year's squad.
 
NJCAA DII Cross Country All-American Balin Doud looks to lead the charge for the Hawks this season. The sophomore is currently the Heartland 8K school record holder after he ran a time of 25:39.5 last year. Just behind him is Brock Loftus, who currently sits in fourth place in Heartland history with an 8K time of 25:50.3. Luke Getz, Colton Knowles and Ben Huey also return for the Hawks.
 
"I want to help lead this team to win a national title," Loftus said. "I feel this team is extremely capable of winning a national title if we stick to our process. Individually, I'm looking to keep improving and have my best finish at nationals."
 
Joining the Hawks this season will be Sam Bushert, Colin Delagrange, Erik Garcia, Elijah House, Kyler McNinch, Eli Mojonnier, Matt Padilla, Sky Riddle and Noel Vasquez.
 
"This is going to be an exciting team to watch," Heartland head coach Ty Wolf said. "Balin, Brock, Luke, Ben and Colton had very good summers of running. The question for this team will be, who's going to step up and run their best when it counts the most on the national stage?"
 
Wolf expressed that Mojonnier and Huey certainly have the potential, along with Bushert, Padilla and Riddle. Wolf also explained that Getz and Knowles had great summers, while Delagrange, McNinch and House all bring strong running pedigrees.
 
With expectations continuing to rise within the program, Wolf elected to upgrade his team's schedule to feature multiple NCAA DI and NCAA DII opponents. The Hawks will begin the season Aug. 18 at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac, MI. With the upgrade in competition, Wolf knows his squad will need to lock-in to have success.
 
"We want to be the No. 1 distance team in the country," Wolf said. "We will give more effort, train smarter and "lock-in" greater consistent mental performances to reach our potential. The talent gap is small, and I think our mental toughness will help us be our best."
 
As the Hawks continue to prepare for the season right around the corner, Wolf expects his team to be up for the challenge.
 
"The biggest challenge for men is making the adjustment from three miles in high school to five miles in college," Wolf said. "Last year, Balin and Brock blew right through the 26-minute barrier. I'm hoping to see some guys break 25 (minutes) this year, and if we can put our entire top-seven under 26 minutes we'll be in good shape."