Dexter's New Cross-Country Coach Eager to Lead Boys' Cross-Country Team

It’s a new era for boys cross-country team as takes over the reins of one of Michigan’s best programs.

The Dreadnaughts finished as Division 1 state runner-up last season, while in 2009 and 2007, Dexter was Division 2 runner-up. From 2002 through 2006, the Dreadnaughts made history winning five consecutive Division 2 state championships. No other Lower Peninsula cross-country team has ever surpassed Dexter’s title streak.

Gould is ready to keep alive the Dreadnaughts' success, originally built by former coach Jaime Dudash and continued most recently by Dave Testa, who stepped down at the end of last season to pursue opportunities out of state.

Gould first started coaching at Ann Arbor’s Slauson Middle School as the sixth-grade boys track coach in 2008 and most recently served as assistant track coach at Saline High School.

Gould inherits a strong Dreadnaught team in 2011. Six of the top seven runners from last season’s squad return this year. Leading the defending Southeastern Conference White Division champions this season will be seniors Taylor Neely, Tim Bougher and Zach Dutcher, along with juniors Alexey Vermeulen, Matt Greve and Mike Hauke.

Other standouts this season for Dexter include seniors Nick Empey and Zac Whidby and juniors Brad Caruthers, Blake Loudermilk and Joe Wendorf. Newcomers looking to crack the Dreadnaught lineup this fall include freshmen Luke Bottomley, Ben Nicholas, Casey Hanson, Alex Shoopman, Kavi Kulkarni, Zach McKenzie and Peter Sculli.

Gould said a weakness or area of concern heading into the season is the Dreadnaughts getting used to a new coach and system.

“The transition process is our first hurdle,” he said. “They are all great athletes. They’re well-balanced with both athletic capability and the mental makeup of tough runners. So, I’m hoping (transition) shouldn’t be a problem.”

Gould said this year’s Dreadnaught squad has multiple goals.

“There are quite a few goals that we have been talking about the past couple of weeks since I started coaching, starting with recruiting kids to the team, getting our roster up, continuing old traditions and making new ones," he said. "There are some things we’d like to see, such as getting every athlete under a (certain time) or maxing out, in terms of repetitions in a workout.

"Our goals are much like other high-caliber teams. We want to win the conference, then the regional, then the state," Gould said. "Much of the cross-country season is defined by what the team accomplishes in the last three weeks of the season. But there are so many other things for the team to take care of that people outside the program never see.”

The Division 1 state meet is Nov. 5 at the Michigan International Speedway.