Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009

PREP CROSS COUNTRY: NWC's best ready to square off

One year ago, the Northwest Conference decided to move its championship cross country meet from one of the more traditional courses around Northwest Washington to Civic Stadium.

"We want to make something that would be a spectator event," Sehome co-coach Kevin Ryan said in a phone interview. "The idea was to make a course that people who like to run all over the course to watch certain points would still love and one that Grandma sitting in the stands could enjoy."

The move was a success, as an estimated 2,000 fans turned out to watch the race. Assuming the weather cooperates, there's no reason to expect those numbers can't be beat on Thursday, Oct. 22, when the best runners in the NWC once again work their way around the Civic Stadium track and through the surrounding neighborhood.

"It reminds me a lot of the world championship events you see in Europe," Squalicum coach Peter Oviatt said in a phone interview. "While it's still cross country, it's kind of like a cycling-style criterium, where you get to see the competitors a bunch. It's a great merge between the two."

Once again, there is plenty riding on Thursday's meet.

Though the Burlington-Edison boys and Squalicum girls claimed the regular-season NWC titles, most competitors and coaches consider winning the conference meet a more prestigious crown.

"I don't think it's any great secret that not every cross country team races all out during the dual meets," Oviatt said. "I can guarantee you everyone will be running all out (Thursday). A lot of teams have something to prove."

There's no better time to prove it, with the state qualifying meets only nine days away and the state championships following a week later in Pasco.

"For us, we're approaching this race very seriously," said Ryan, who will serve as race director on Thursday. "We want to make sure we race properly this week. For our girls' team, this is the first time we've had a full team racing together, so it is kind of exciting to see what they can do. We want to build a strong, positive feeling that we can carry into the rest of the postseason."

Even though the Mariners have not had their standout 1-2 punch of Annie Moore and Mimi Krieger race together so far this year because of injury and illness, they're still considered the front-runner entering Thursday.

The absence of Moore and Krieger at times during the season has allowed other runners, such as sophomore Jaden Duffy and junior Katie Delahunt to step up. Now that Moore and Krieger are back and at full strength, according to Ryan, Sehome looks primed to make a run at chasing its fourth straight state title.

"We've compared the workouts, both in quality and quantity, and we're right where we want to be right now," Ryan said.

Besides Moore and Krieger, another top girls' runner to watch on Thursday is Squalicum sophomore Molly Rider, who did not lose a NWC meet this year. Also keep an eye on the Storm's Brittany Gappa, Bellingham's Molly Leischner, Mount Vernon's Tessa Murray, Lynden's Karla Witte and Hannah VanZanten and Blaine's Kiersten Sigfusson, who continues to get stronger after an offseason appendectomy.

Squalicum and Bellingham are expected to push the Mariners in the team race, though the Storm is battling illness and is just hoping to get through the next two weeks and get ready for state, Oviatt said.

On the boys' side, Burlington-Edison is the favored team, with Tyler Williams and Connor Whan leading the way.

Sehome, which is led by returning NWC meet champion Scott Carlyle, Eric Schneider and Galen O'Moore, should push the Tigers a bit. Danny Gibson and Squalicum could also be in the mix, but watch for big individual races from Ferndale's Lee George, Lynden Christian's Jacob Hollander and Nooksack Valley's Oliver Bear Don't Walk.

"This is the time and the meet where you start to see exactly what you have," Oviatt said. "After this one is done, you can crunch the numbers and start to see who's going to state and who's going to have to work to get there. This is the time of year we've all be waiting for, and it's exciting."

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

RACE TIME

NORTHWEST CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

When: Thursday, Oct. 22

Site: Civic Stadium

SCHEDULE

Junior varsity girls: 3:20 p.m.

Junior varsity boys: 4 p.m.

Varsity girls: 4:30 p.m.

Varsity boys: 5 p.m.