Bradford cross country looks to youth amidst rebuild

BRADFORD, PA — After losing several key pieces during the offseason, the Bradford cross country team is facing the start of a rebuild with youth being the foundation.

The Owls lost two seniors due to graduation in Brayden Frair and Joe Caruso. As the star runner during his tenure, Frair, who is currently running for Lock Haven University, placed in States multiple times over his four years, also setting five track and field records during his spring seasons. Him and his senior counterpart Caruso will be difficult to replace, not only by the numbers, but also in their leadership and experience.

Bradford will now look to their current juniors, Kadyn Tessena and Evan Troisi, to carry the torch. Last season, Tessena and Troisi finished 12th and 16th in the District 9 Championship, respectively, and both earned opportunities to the State meet.

“Tessena made all 19 preseason conditioning sessions and has run over 400 miles since June 1. He also has run in three track meets this summer and one 5k Race. Kadyn will be much improved from last year,” said Bradford head coach Tom Tessena, who is going into his 46th year at the helm of the Owls’ cross country team. “He and Evan also attended Cross Camp at Slippery Rock University in June. Evan has also ran quite a bit this summer as well. He had some very good races last year and did well in the invitationals. These two guys are the heart of the team and will have to step up and be team leaders.”

Bradford also returns three sophomore lettermen from a year ago. Jordan Pogue was the team’s fourth best runner from 2024 and is joined by Nikolai and Xavier Frontino, who also earned a letter in cross country last year.”

“All three of these guys will need to come through for us if we are going to beat anyone.
We have 6 other guys trying to get in the top seven,” said Tom Tessena. “We have 1one senior, Tony McDonald, who ran last
year. There are two juniors, Kamil Chen and Cavan Drake, who have some potential and did some
running this summer. They will both have to really work hard to get in shape where they can help us.”

“We have strong competition this year from St. Marys as usual but Brookville would have to be a heavy favorite to win our District. Punxsutawney also has three very strong runners and cannot never be counted out. Clearfield will also have runners in the mix for State Meet berths,” said Tom Tessena. “With top notch coaches at all three schools it will make it very tough on us to be competitive this season.”

Competing in the newly established District 9 League, the Owls’ schedule has seen some shuffling. This year, they will take part in six dual meets and a championship in addition to five invitationals, their own home invitational not included.

“I don’t particularly like the number of dual meets we have but those were required to be members of the
league,” said Tom Tessena. “With no seniors and only two juniors in our top five and three sophomores, we will have some growing pains in the early going of the season. We will work through almost all of the dual meets and concentrate on
improving with our sights on Districts at the end of October.”

Season Schedule:

Tuesday, Aug. 26: Home vs St. Marys, Dubois Central Catholic, Northern Potter, 4:15 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 30: at Lock Haven, Bear Mountain River Run, 10 a.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 2: Home vs DuBois, Brockway, 5:15 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 6: at Bemus Point, NY, Red Dragon Invitational, 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 9: at Punxsutawney, vs Punxsutawney, DuBois Central Catholic, 4:15 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 13: Home, 22nd Annual Bradford Invitational, 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 16: Home, vs Kane, Ridgway (Senior Night), 5:15 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 20: at Hershey, PA, PIAA Foundation Race, 11 a.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 23: at Kane, vs Kane, Ridgway, 4:15 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 27: at Rochester, NY, McQuaid Invitational, 10 a.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 30: at Brockway, vs Brockway, Ridgway, 4:15 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 11: Rocky Grove Invitational, 10 a.m.