University of St. Francis was the talk of the meet last November when the young Saints - with no seniors or juniors on their roster and in just their second year of competition - finished second among eight teams at the 2008 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship meet.

And the still young Saints - with only six juniors on the team and one senior who is not expected to be among their top runners - will be back with their sights set on improving their times this year and trying to make up some of the distance between them and the defending conference champs and top-10 nationally-ranked team from Olivet Nazarene.

"We have a pretty good group of runners at the top of our lineup," says head coach Drew Ludtke who revived the Saints men's program two years ago. "If we can find a consistent runner at the No. 5 slot that can push the top four into better times, then we have a chance to have a very good and successful season."

The top returnees for the Saints are juniors Michael McElyea and Adam Yost. McElyea was a national qualifier last year and earned All-CCAC honors as a sophomore. Yost, who also has been with the Saints since the program returned in 2008, captured All-CCAC recognition a year ago as well.

Also returning is junior Tony Burbatt who will likely be one of the runners competing for that pivotal fifth spot to which Ludtke earlier referred.

The top newcomers on the squad are expected to be junior college transfer Ian McDowell and freshman Sean Smith. McDowell, who like Ludtke hails from the state of Michigan, will have an immediate impact on the team and is capable of competing for that No. 1 spot. Smith is also a contender for the top position and was an all-state performer at Winnebago (Ill.) High School last year.

Other newcomers that impressed Ludtke during fall camp include freshmen Phil Rizzo, Mike Topp and Trevor Howard. Ludtke expects all three of them to make some scoring contributions in meets this fall.

Ludtke cites sophomore James Teach as the most improved runner heading into the fall and counts on him as another name that could crack the team's top seven before the year is out.

The rest of the roster includes one senior, two juniors, two sophomore and five freshmen. Paul Purdy is the lone senior, while Mubashir Olaoye and Ronald O'Neal are the two juniors. Eric Stadter and Keith Fuentes are the two returning sophomores. The quintet of remaining freshmen includes Arthur Stringham, Corey Rios, Dan Laskowski, David Dickey and Tyler Pinta.

"We have made great progress in our first two years and I feel that we have the talent to be a national qualifying team this year," says Ludtke. "Our goal is to be nationally ranked this year and it will take steady improvement to reach that level. If we get to the point where we crack the national ratings, then I see no reason why we cannot perform well enough to qualify as a team for the NAIA nationals."

It sounds like a good finish to an ambitious three-year plan. And Ludtke is certainly confident that his Saints are capable of pulling it off.