SPANISH FORT, Alabama — At Spanish Fort, coach Mike Rauch begins his second season on The Hill after leading a very young Lady Toro girls team to their county title with only one senior, Jackie Smith, and returning a corps group of four senior boys this year on the Toros boys team.

“We have had a great summer and they went to a running camp for a week and they all seem very up and enthused and that makes me feel good. Jackie was the only senior last year on either team,” Rauch said. “But she was a good leader for both the boys and the girls. She set a high bar for her work ethic that was just a great example for the younger kids. This year we still don’t have any seniors on the girls team— they were just that young last year. But we have four senior boys in Tyler Orem, Connor Irion, Ross Nelson and Dimitry Shotlander and they have a lot of experience, especially Tyler and Connor. The whole group has been training hard and getting ready, we’re excited about this season. Last year, we had a lot kids who were first timers, but now they’re back with experience and I think that’s helped our preparation schedule tremendously. ”

Although still underclassmen Katrina Garofano, Linsey Hrabovsky and Jordan Huber return with significant varsity experience on the girls team.

Other runners who Rauch feels will make the Lady Toros highly competitive in Baldwin County are Sarah Carrico, Madison Copeland and Maddie Grace.

“The most improved girl on the team is Brittany Boudreaux who will be a key player, along with a new freshman on the team, Hannah Frain,” Rauch said.

The SFHS teams also will open at Foley’s Graham Creek course.

“That’s a great place to run,” Rauch said. “The kids love it but it’s not the most spectator-friendly place. And as a coach it’s hard to move in between, around the middle to see how the runners are doing. You pretty much have to just watch the start and the finish. But it a good place for a race.

“I think the girls have a really good chance at repeating the county win this year,” he added. “Unless I make some silly mistake. The boys will be interesting. They have improved more and look a lot different, some of the younger ones have grown what looks like six inches and picked up speed and strength as well. With the four seniors, we should be competitive because after them, there are a lot of younger kids that can cover a lot ground and I think will also continue to improve and keep putting some pressure on the seniors to push themselves harder. They want to go out in a big way for their senior year.”

The Toros are also hosting a meet this year at Historic Blakeley State Park just north of Spanish Fort on the west side of highway 225 about five miles north of highway 31.

“We're really excited about that,” he said. “And it’s a great place for it. We have a lot of teams from all over showing interest. It’s a great — I mean — great spot for running. We're going to have hills and trails and there’s a bridge and maybe a lot of mud if it rains. We’re calling it the Battle at Blakeley in honor of the Civil War battle there and we’re going to try and include more of the historical part to it. We’re going to sell T-Shirts and we want to help the park, too.

They have lost a lot of funding and I hope we can stir up more interest in it. It’s great place to walk or run or bike, too.”

The race is set for Set for Oct. 13. For more information and directions, go to: www.blakeleypark.com