FREEPORT — It’s like a broken record, but things have been sounding pretty good for the Freeport girls cross-country team.

Last season, the Yellowjackets entered the season having lost one senior, went 9-0 and captured their first section title.

This season? They enter the year losing one senior (Carol Amadee) and are looking to make it back-to-back section crowns.

With seven of their top-eight runners back — seniors Marisa Mattioli, Nicole Miller, Rachel Sadecky and Kayla Zboran and juniors Hayley Davis, Becca Dudek and Laura Will — the Yellowjackets are experienced and deep, as they have 20 girls on the team.

“The girls have high expectations,” said Freeport coach Bob Livrone. “Our top six are back and that’s a good thing.

“However, with three classifications this year, we’ll be competing against some bigger schools. The girls, though, are up to the challenge. They said, ‘OK, we’ll work harder.’ They’re ready for it. They want to win WPIAL and go to states,” Livrone added.

Following are previews for the upcoming cross-country season.

Boys Butler

Coach: Rick Davanzati, seventh year

2011 record: 4-5 overall

Returning letterwinners: Senior Jeromee Geibel; juniors Jordan Blum and Christopher Short; sophomores Christopher Boyd and Michael Herschl

Coach’s comment: “We have 15 boys and that’s the smallest team we’ve had in a long time. We have a decent core on the boys side, but not as experienced as the girls team. Only time will tell. They have decent potential. It comes down to whether they’re willing to do the work.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Jim Nagle, eighth year

2011 record: N/A, sixth at WPIAL Class AAA championship

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Ben Nickel and Eli Brinker (in 2010); juniors Alex Taylor and Todd Kowalski

Coach’s comment: “Last year, the young kids stepped up and improved from 10th place to sixth (in the WPIAL). We lost a lot from that 10th-place team two years ago and lost a lot from the sixth-place team. These guys feel, if they’re healthy, they can improve too.”

Knoch

Coach: Wess Brahler, 12th year

2011 record: 5-6 overall

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Alex Cetnar and Ben Kingan; juniors Jared Geist and Donny Bierhals; sophomores Preston Carlsson and Paul Kasunic

Coach’s comment: “I think they’re very talented. Our middle school program was outstanding last year and we’re bringing them in this year. We have experience and good leadership. These kids, I’ve been with through cross-country and track and field and they know what it takes to be successful.”

Mars

Coach: Dale Boring, second year

2011 record: 10-3 overall, eighth at WPIAL Class AAA championship

Returning letterwinners: Senior Scott Slaney; juniors Chris Georgiadis, Frankie Teprini and Gage Zimmerman; sophomore Brendan Knox

Coach’s comment: “Scott Slaney is a running freak. He’s not a vocal leader, but he leads by example. He loves running. ... As far as the WPIAL meet is concerned, we expect to be in the hunt.”

Freeport

Coach: Bob Livrone, 15th year

2011 record: 5-4 in the section

Returning letterwinners: Senior Caleb Smith; junior Jared Kapustik, Colin Meehan and Nick Milliron; sophomore Ryan Miller

Coach’s comment: “We were pretty young last year and we only had a couple of first-year seniors graduate so we have a lot of kids back. We still have just one senior and we picked up six freshmen. We have some good guys there.”

Slippery Rock

Coach: Mike Hilliard, fourth year

2011 record: 5-1 in the District 10 Region 2 for second place

Returning letterwinner: Junior Caleb Bickel

Coach’s comment: “After losing our core of runners last year, we definitely are in a rebuilding phase, but we have runners with a couple of years of experience that can do well. We definitely will be able to compete in our region.”

Grove City

Coach: Mike Sample, 13th year

2011 record: 6-0, captured fourth consecutive Region 2 crown and second District 10 title; PIAA runner-up

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Dan Jaskowak, Ian Brown and Brandon Wise; junior Ryan Whiteman; sophomores Aaron Benka and Ryan Budnik

Coach’s comment: “They’re more talented than last year. We had a couple of great seniors on the team last year, but our freshmen last year are now sophomores and are training at a high level. The talent level won’t drop off. Those six had voluntary practice and trained together and they put in more quality miles.”

Karns City

Coach: Colin Gaiser, third year

2011 record: N/A

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Matt Slagle and Evan McGarvey

Coach’s comment: “We have seven runners and three others that are from the soccer team for the first time. We’re looking for a successful season, better than .500.”

Moniteau

Coach: Greg Rider, first year

2011 record: N/A

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Evan Miller, Roman Weingartner, Devin Massey and Nate Taylor; junior Zach Morgan

Coach’s comment: “We want to keep improving. We’ve come a long way already, but we’re still not there yet to compete with teams like Cranberry and Karns City. The juniors should be pushing to where Evan’s at, to close that gap.”

A-C Valley

Coach: Chrissy Hanna, first year

2011 record: N/A

Runners: Senior Clayton McNany; sophomores Drew Kralj and Brian Miller; freshmen John Anderson and Liam McKee

Coach’s comment: “John Anderson is our top boy so far and I see a lot of good potential throughout the entire team.”

Union

Coach: Terry McCullough, third year

2011 record: Didn’t field a full team

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Shawn Hazlett and Derek Priester; juniors Beau Rankin and Taylor Kriebel; sophomore Jordan Krear

Coach’s comment: “We’re hoping we can get at least one or two more. We want to get a victory and build from that. The kids have been working hard all summer and are putting the miles and the training in.”

Girls Butler

Coach: Rick Davanzati, seventh year

2011 record: 4-5 overall

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Rachel Konieczny, Tori Sawhney and Alexis Swiergol; junior Holly Keefer; sophomore Maggie Calvert

Coach’s comment: “I think we have a strong nucleus with those first four returning letterwinners. We have 15 girls out, which is smaller than we’re used to. I think we’re going to be improved over last year. If everything comes together, we should have a decent team.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Jim Nagle, eighth year

2011 record: N/A, 6th at WPIAL Class AAA championship

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Emily Seibert, Lucy Moore and Raquel Moore; juniors Taryn Latsko and Becky Paine; sophomore Katie Lutz

Coach’s comment: “We have a lot more girls than we’ve ever had before, over 30 girls. Our goal is to be better than last year and they believe if they’re healthy, they will be.”

Knoch

Coach: Wess Brahler, 12th year

2011 record: 1-10 overall

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Tena Pettit and Katie Jones

Coach’s comment: “Our key loss was Emilee Hertweck (SRU), but like on the boys side, we have some talented freshmen. We think we can qualify. I think both teams will have the opportunity.”

Mars

Coach: Dale Boring, second year

2011 record: 6-7 overall, eighth at WPIAL Class AAA championship

Returning letterwinners: Senior Maggie McChesney; juniors Bethany Catanzaro, Amanda Alikhani and Maria Monberg; sophomores Shannon McChesney and Reilly Butler

Coach’s comment: “We’re in Class AA so we expect the kids to get through the WPIAL meet. We lost a couple of close ones and I’d anticipate we’d win three or four more than last year. These girls have the confidence to run with the big dogs in the big race.”

Freeport

Coach: Bob Livrone, 15th year

2011 record: 9-0 in the section, first-ever section championship

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Marisa Mattioli, Nicole Miller, Rachel Sadecky and Kayla Zboran; juniors Hayley Davis, Becca Dudek and Laura Will

Coach’s comment: “We have 20 girls on the team and picked up five freshmen. That will be good for the future. We also picked up Rachel Kubeldis, a senior, who qualified for the (PIAA track meet) in the 1,600. That makes us even stronger.”

Slippery Rock

Coach: Jessica Schroeffel, fourth year

2011 record: 2-4 in District 10 Region 2

Returning letterwinners: Juniors Becca Novak, Lauren Dietz and Rebecca Masterson

Coach’s comment: “This is a unique situation. It’s the first time I think we’ve had a strong core of the team back. Before, we’ve had Jessica Bennett and others, but this group is running together and working hard. They have a great work ethic.”

Grove City

Coach: Mike Sample, 13th year

2011 record: 6-0, Region 2 champions

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Christine Potsubay, Lindsey Knaby, Lauren Decker, Kara McClain and Jill Mercer; sophomore Mikayla Wimer

Coach’s comment: “The seniors are getting the younger girls to do what we need to do to prepare for the season. We have three or four more freshmen this year. They have to go from running 1.8 miles for training to a 5K. The seniors have graciously accepted them. They’re all pretty close.”

Karns City

Coach: Colin Gaiser, third year

2011 record: N/A

Returning letterwinners: Senior Lacee Scheerbaum; juniors Emily Schumacher, Emily Jones and Drew Barnhart

Coach’s comment: “We have the potential with those four, plus we have two others. It’s a numbers game for us right now. ... We’re hoping everyone has a strong year.”

Moniteau

Coach: Greg Rider, first year

2011 record: N/A

Returning letterwinners: Seniors Heather Porter, Chelsea Miller and Miranda McGovern; juniors Emily Rider, Brittany Boring and Kristin McDeavitt

Coach’s comment: “We didn’t lose any seniors and we’re gaining two freshmen, so our team should be stronger than last year. We hope to be in contention for the KSAC title.

A-C Valley

Coach: Chrissy Hanna, first year

2011 record: N/A

Runners: Senior Kelsey Milford; junior Racheal Viertel; sophomores Libby Best, Dori Krajl, Erin Logue and Lydia Thompson; freshman Shannon Quaill

Coach’s comment: “I definitely see potential out of my girls. We have a good strong core. If they can stay here and train, I can see them getting better.”

Union

Coach: Terry McCullough, third year

2011 record: Didn’t field a full team

Runners: Juniors Paige Whitmer, Shannon Myers and Shannon Roberts; sophomore Tabby Dietz

Coach’s comment: “I’m hoping they can lead the girls team to higher levels of running. You want them to like running and racing and to come back and influence the younger girls.”