Kentwood’s Danny Lunder wants to break the 16 minute mark this weekend at the South Puget Sound League sub-district meet.
All he has to do is shave about 10 seconds off his personal best.
Lunder is one of a number of cross country runners to watch from the Tahoma and Kent School Districts including both of the Bears’ squads as well as Alexia Martin and Ruby Virk from Kent-Meridian.
UNDER 16 MINUTES
Senior Danny Lunder, who placed 40th at last year’s state championship, is hoping to finish much higher this year.
“I can’t feel anything but good about him,” said Head Coach Ken Paul. “He doesn’t groan, he doesn’t complain. He’ll do anything you ask him to. Because of his abilities, he can get ready in a week. He’s going to have a good season, I think.”
During the season, Lunder came in at first place in three out of four meets. He also finished seventh at the Tomahawk Twilight Invitational in Marysville on Oct. 1.
“He’s having a heck of a season,” said Assistant Coach Steve Roach. “We need more of him.”
As for Lunder, he stated he felt prepared for this year’s sub-district.
“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I feel more confident than I have in the past. I’ve been doing well so far.”
Lunder stated he is seeking to break the 16 minute barrier. Currently his season best is 16 minutes, 10 seconds.
“It’s his time,” said Assistant Coach Kara Thorton.
As a team, the boys are hoping to place well at the sub-district, despite losing three of its top runners from last year. The Conquerors have a solid base of runners such as juniors Dasan Telford, Eli McMeen and Galen Kornowske.
“I don’t pick a varsity team,” Paul said. “They do. And we have a new varsity team each week. It’s exciting for them.”
Paul said he regards the league season as a “merely formality” compared to the sub-district meet.
LEADER OF THE PACK
On Kent-Meridian’s girls team, senior Alexia Martin has taken first place at three of the four season meets this year, the most recent at the Oct. 12 race against Kentwood and Thomas Jefferson.
“I feel I did great,” she said.
With a season personal record of 19:10, Martin stated so far for her this year has been somewhat relaxed.
“I don’t feel like I’ve had a lot of competition,” she said.
Even then, she said she has been training carefully for the sub-district meet.
“I feel really good about it,” she said. “I’m not pushing it too much, so during the league (meet) my legs are not going to be tired.”
Martin is also pleased with her performance due to the fact that she sprained her ankle during the track season in the spring, which impacted her running for nearly a month.
“I still did awesome, but it wasn’t completely there,” she said.
“She’s the go-to girl,” said Head Coach Ernie Ammons. “She’s got the maturity to go out there and take ownership of what she’s doing.”
Nipping at her heels, however, is sophomore Ruby Virk, whose season PR is 19:16, a six second difference from Martin’s.
Ammons stated he expects both Martin and Virk to finish in the top five at sub-district.
“It’s very exciting, considering where they’ve (the girls’ team) gone in the last five years,” he said.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR TAHOMA
Both the Tahoma High boys and girls varsity teams are approaching the sub-district meet with high expectations to win not only league, but district and state championships as well.
Given how well the Bears have done in the past these are almost predictable goals.
So far this season, the boys have been undefeated, while the girls have suffered only a single loss against Thomas Jefferson.
“I think both teams are doing really well,” said Head Coach Gary Conner. “They have more talent, more miles than last year.”
The girls’ team has benefited from underclassmen such as freshmen Delaney Tiernan and Abby Atchison, both of whom broke their season personal records at the Oct. 12 meet against Auburn Riverside and Kentlake, running a 19:26 and 19:29 respectively.
Much of their improvement, Conner stated, was due to an adjustment in the training schedule. By beginning their two-a-day practices a week earlier in the summer, he believes that they will reach their peak at the sub-district meet, rather than earlier in the season, a problem which plagues a lot of teams.
It’s a plan which has proven popular with the runners.
The girls credited Conner’s intense workouts for much of their individual and team success.
“It’s definitely work ethic and the coaches taking the time to get us ready,” said junior Bridget Wulfing. “We get a lot of encouragement.”
Conner used this strategy to explain why the girls lost their Oct. 5 meet against Thomas Jefferson. Not only did they have the Sunfair Invitational in Yakima that same weekend, but season records are not use a determining factor for league ranking, as it is in other sports. Better to lose a season race he said, and keep the runners healthy, than have them exhausted right before the sub-district meet.
“We didn’t really care (about the meet),” Conner said. “We weren’t pumped up. Some of it was my fault, but, hopefully we’re focusing on the prize.”
Though the girls are hoping to take first at state this year, they want to let their running talk for them.
“I feel we shouldn’t make a limit on how well to do,” said Atchison.
“We’re excited,” said Maddy Dennis. “It’s an easy course to PR on.”
Leading the girls team is junior Elizabeth Oosterhout, who ran an 18:42, her all-time PR, at the Oct. 12 meet at Kentlake.
Conner said he has high hopes for Oosterhout at state.
“If she doesn’t get nervous she could win (the state championship),” he said.
Conner has equal confidence in the boys varsity team with a perfect season record to support it.
“There’s nobody who practices better than the boys,” he said. “It’s been a good year this season.”
As with the girls, Conner employed training methods to help the team work cohesively as a single unit. For example, for certain workouts if the entire team did not run under a specified time, all of them were forced to run it again.
This training strategy seems to have worked well. The top five runners all have season PRs under 17 minutes, the top 10 below 18 minutes.
“We’ve got a good base there,” Conner said. “It’s a lifestyle. To be good, that’s what it needs to take. They’ve got trust each other. They’ve got to trust the system.”
The boys are also benefiting from late season PRs by runners such as juniors James Dagley and Jacob Larsen, who ran a 16:16 and 16:40 respectively, at the Oct. 12 meet against Tahoma and Auburn Riverside. Sophomore Riley Campell also ran a season PR with a 16:19.
“If I can get all of my guys healthy, we will be on that podium,” Conner said. “You can run good for eight weeks, but this is when the kids start to break down.”
Dagley said, “It’s time to reclaim it (the podium).”
