Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Ferndale runners hoping for strong finish at state

One is a gregarious, strong leader. The other is quiet, yet competitive.

One improved by leaps and bounds this year, while the other showed tremendous consistency.

About the only things Lee George and Megan Morrison have in common are a passion for running, a strong work ethic and the fact that they will be the only runners wearing Ferndale's blue and gold uniforms in their respective races at the Cross Country State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 7.

While Morrison will be making her second appearance in a state meet, George will be making his debut in Pasco.

"His story is really neat, because he joined us a freshman and has really decreased his times every year through hard work," Ferndale coach Allison Porter said in a phone interview. "Some people are born really strong runners and some have to work hard at it, and he is one of those who worked really hard."

George, a senior, worked so hard that he finished second at the Class 3A Northwest District Meet on Saturday, Oct. 31, at South Whidbey to qualify for state with his time of 16 minutes, 42.96 seconds. A year earlier, he finished 20th with a time of 18:05.82.

"I don't know if I was surprised with my finish," George said. "I wanted to finish first. I was surprised by who I beat and by who beat me, but I knew I could get a top finish and qualify for state."

By finishing second, George was able to beat a number of top runners that he said he really wanted to finish in front of this year, including Mount Vernon's Ethan Garrison (who was fourth) and Nate Minor (who was 14th).

"Of course getting second on Saturday was pretty sweet," George said. "But beating those guys that I have always wanted to, that made it really special."

Like his coach, George credits his work ethic for making the difference this year.

When he saw his name was not listed in a preseason list of the top five Whatcom Country runners to watch in September even after he had put in 30 to 40 miles per week during the summer, that spurred him to work even harder.

"I think I'm more mature this year," he said. "I never really had a great work ethic before, but this year I really have worked at it. When I saw my name wasn't listed in those five runners to watch, it told me it was time to start working my (butt) off."

Not that he considers running work.

"For me, running is not a sport - I do it because it's fun," George said. "If I get bored, I just go out for a run."

And now he'd like to continue that fun at the state meet.

Though this will be his first trip to state, he has high hopes of finishing on the podium (top 16) or even a top-10 finish that he can qualify for the Border Clash and run against the top competitors from Oregon.

George has his work cut out for him to reach that level, though. His season best 16:10.75 at the Nov. 22 Northwest Conference Championships ranks him 28th in Class 3A, according to athletic.net.

But Porter believes he can accomplish his goal, especially if he continues to improve the way he has throughout his career.

"I believe his best race is still in front of him," Porter said. "He believes in himself and what he can do. He believes that he can run with the really fast guys in each race he's in. After the race down at South Whidbey, he looked like he was ready to go again, so I think he can still go faster."

Porter believes the same of Ferndale's only other entry in this weekend's races.

Morrison, a junior, placed eighth in the district meet last weekend to earn her spot in the state meet with a time of 20:41.11. That was an improvement of one place and almost 19 seconds over what she accomplished as a sophomore.

"Megan is an extremely consistent runner," Porter said. "She qualified for state as a sophomore, and she qualified this year in much the same manner."

Morrison said she was pleased with the improvement she made from a year earlier.

"I think it was much more competitive this year," Morrison said in a phone interview. "I trained so hard for this, and it was really nice to improve by a place."

Porter said that though Morrison, who also enjoys playing the violin and raising miniature horses, is one of her quieter runners, she's one of the most competitive.

"Sometimes they would play soccer before practice or something, and she was so intense and competitive," Porter said. "You wouldn't want to get in her way. While she is super quiet, she is one of the toughest competitors around."

That fire has driven Morrison to continually work to improve.

"She is one of the hardest working runners," Porter said. "She just toughs it out. She says 'OK, what do I have to do,' and then she goes out and does it. She runs to where it hurts. Not all high school kids are willing to do that. She leaves everything she has out there on the course."

Morrison finished 88th in her first trip to the state meet last year with a time of 20:49.

Not surprisingly, her goal is to improve on both marks on Saturday.

Judging by Morrison's season best time of 19:58.16 at the NWC Championship - 58th fastest in Class 3A - she should be in good position to move up on Saturday.

"I feel pretty good about doing that," said Morrison, who got her start in running at the Civic Stadium summer track meets. "My first time out, I didn't know exactly what to expect. I feel I got a pretty reasonable time, considering the course. Now I know what to expect."

Though Morrison and George will be the only representatives from Ferndale participating in Saturday's race, a host of teammates has continued to help them even though the competitive portions of their seasons are finished.

"We have had about three-quarters of our team still turning out the last few weeks," Porter said. "It's great to see. I think it shows the camaraderie these runners have. We have had such great support for both Lee and Megan. It's helped them continue to get ready for state. Hopefully they'll both be able to run strong. I think they're both ready for a good race."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.

STATE CROSS COUNTRY

When: Saturday, Nov. 7

Site: Sun Willows Golf Course, Pasco

TIME SCHEDULE

1A girls: 10:30 a.m.

2A girls: 11 a.m.

1A boys: Noon

3A girls: 12:30 p.m.

2A boys: 1:30 p.m.

3A boys: 2 p.m.