All summer, Summit’s Hayden Boaz has been running on a variety of terrain and upping his miles to prepare for his final high school cross-country season.

The weekly mileage for the senior has hit a high water mark of 70, as he looks to lead the Storm boys to another successful season of racing despite losing several top runners from last year’s squad.

“I feel like the team is more together this year. We are ready to go after those bigger meets and get some wins,” Boaz said. “Maybe our top two might not be as strong, but our whole five, and seven through 10 are way stronger. I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Boaz is coming off of a stellar junior season in which he finished no lower than fourth place in the six races prior to the Class 5A state meet. He finished second at the IMC Championships in Redmond, sixth at state in Eugene and 20th at the NXR Northwest Regional Championships in Boise, Idaho.

Coming off an impressive track season in which he placed fourth in both the 1,500 and 3,000 meters, Boaz will be one of the favorites to win the IMC individual title and be one of the top finishers at the state meet once again.

“My mindset has improved to where I am able to push myself harder than before,” Boaz said. “In races I am able to push my body more towards the limit. I just need to stay consistent with my training, stay healthy and just mentally prepare for my races.”

Boaz has taken the leadership reins of the team, organizing team runs during non-practice days, which coach Kari Strang said has “permeated to the rest of the team” and should be beneficial to building and maintaining a strong squad throughout the season.

“He’s an understated threat, that people might not recognize how strong of a runner he is, so I’m excited to see how that unfolds,” Strang said. “The way I view Hayden is how I view the team. They are quietly putting in the work, supporting each other, doing all the things to set themselves on a path for magic things to happen.”

Summit will have to replace three of the seven runners from its second-place team at last year’s state meet, including Noah Laughlin-Hall, last year’s IMC champion and third-place state finisher.

But the team’s depth will be its strength.

Returning with Boaz is junior Kaden Williams, who finished 11th at state. Also back from last year’s second-place team are seniors Jackson Dean-Ziegler and Finn Miller. Add in senior Ben Meier, who was one of the IMC’s top 1,500-meter runners during the track season, and the Storm are once again formidable.

“We have just been focusing on running together more, making sure everyone is showing up to practice and competing their hardest every time,” Miller said. “So we can run faster together, instead of one person running fast. It is a team sport and we are trying to get faster together as a team.”

Strang said putting together a seven-runner varsity lineup could be a challenge this year because of the number of runners.

“We have really strong depth, we are going to feel the loss of some of our runners,” Strang said. “We had some great seniors last year that were both phenomenal athletes and good leaders. That group really laid the groundwork for this next group. (This year’s group) knows what needs to be done and they are fighting to make it happen.”

The Summit boys are hoping to claim their first state team title since 2015. But they will have their work cut out for them to unseat Crater, which has won six of the last seven state championships and returns the top two placers at state in Tayvon Kitchen and Josiah Tostenson.

Said Strang of her team: “They are quietly putting in the work, supporting each other, and doing all the things to set themselves on a path for magic things to happen.”