Photo Courtesy of Andy Nystrom, Reporter Newspapers
Redmond Reporter Sports Reporter
Oct 27 2010, 4:42 PM
After graduating a slew of senior leaders last year, the Redmond High cross country teams have gotten an infusion of young talent in 2010.
The Mustangs relied on some of their newcomers to place third in both the boys' and girls' varsity divisions of last Thursday's 4A Kingco Championships at Lincoln Park in Seattle.
The Mustangs safely fell within the top eight cut to advance to the Bi-District meet which will be on a hilly, difficult course at South Whidbey High School in Langley this Saturday. The top five teams, and the top 25 individual runners from the Bi-District meet will punch a ticket to the 4A state meet.
"We want both boys and girls in the top five," said head coach Denis Villeneuve on his team goals for Saturday's big race. "That's the main focus of everything. The last four years both teams have gone (to state), and have finished in the top 10, so they're interested in keeping that streak going."
SUPER STEVENS
The boys' side got a phenomenal performance from super sophomore Johnathan Stevens last week, as he shattered his personal best 5K, running the course at Lincoln Park in 15 minutes, 45 seconds to finish third, a nose behind Keegan Symmes of Skyline.
Stevens' best run before last Thursday was 16:23, 38 seconds slower, at the Hole in the Wall Invite in Lakewood earlier this season.
But Stevens' standout run was hardly a surprise to Villeneuve, who has been coaching for 20 years.
"Last year at state, he ran a 16:45, and that was a personal record on a really hard course," he noted. "Once I saw that, I thought, 'this kid can run.' And he's done that all year long."
Little did anyone know, Stevens was dealing with a minor case of shin splints heading into the race, but once he headed out to the course, adrenaline took over.
"I had just given a speech to the team the day before about how you had to ignore your injuries going into a race, and I decided if I was advocating it, I had to myself do that," he said. "Once I got to the (starting) line, I was 100 percent. Everything went away."
Stevens said he got off to a fast start and ran a "so-so" second mile, but the difference was down the home stretch, when he turned on the afterburners instead of letting others overtake him.
"In the third mile, I saw some people try to pass me," Stevens recalled. "I had to just go for it."
Senior team co-captain Miles Hille also ran well, placing sixth in 16:03, and freshman Zach Kirwan (16:37, 20th) and Max Dunn (16:45, 24th) both notched top-25 finishes for the Mustangs in the huge varsity field of 141 runners.
YOUTH IS SERVED
The Redmond girls have a pair of first-year runners, freshman standout Kelsey Dunn and sophomore Lila Rice, who have steadily improved all year and are peaking in the postseason.
Dunn, the top finisher for the Mustangs, ran a personal-best 19:27 to finish 12th, and Rice's time of 19:46, good for 20th, represented the third-straight time she broke her own personal record in a 5K race.
"We graduated a lot of good runners, so we weren't sure at the start of the year how good we could be," said Villeneuve of the uncertainty of his team at the year's start. "I'm pleased with the new people that have come to our team and the returners, how much they have improved."
One of those returners is senior co-captain Jenna Sanders, who broke 20 minutes for the first time this season with 19:45 and an 18th place finish, and another is junior Holly Young, who finished a few strides behind Dunn, in 13th, with a time of 19:29.
According to Villeneuve, it was the first time in many years all top five girls' runners broke the 20-minute mark, and Sanders remarked that the team is excited to run at the Bi-District meet.
"We have a lot of potential to make a really big impact at Districts, and possibly even take the title if we all have a good day," said Sanders, who ran the course at South Whidbey as a sophomore back in 2008. "It's a hard course. There's a really steep hill... but now that we're at the peak of our potential, I think we're going to do well."
The Mustangs will kick off their run at South Whidbey with the girls' varsity race at 12:50 p.m. this Saturday, followed by the boys' race at 2:30 p.m.
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REDMOND HIGH LEADERBOARD - 4A Kingco Championships - Lincoln Park, Seattle
BOYS-
3rd - Johnathan Stevens, 15:45
6th - Miles Hille, 16:03
20th - Zach Kirwan, 16:37
24th - Max Dunn, 16:45
42nd - Jack Crawford, 17:17
Average time: 16:29.40 (3rd place)
GIRLS-
12th - Kelsey Dunn, 19:27
13th - Holly Young, 19:29
18th - Jenny Sanders, 19:45
20th - Lila Rice, 19:46
22nd - Allie Nichols, 19:56
Average time: 19:40.60 (3rd place)
