| Thursday, September 18, 2008 |
There have been lean times during Dennis McGuire's 25 years as girls cross country coach at Central Valley High School, times when, if he had given a freshman the choice between running and taking detention for the year, there was a 50-50 chance they'd choose detention.
So to have a run of large, deep freshman classes feeding into his program is a luxury.
"The thing is, I deserve it," McGuire laughed. "After all these years, I do deserve it.
"I think it all comes down to this: Every year I just try to make this something that is fun and that they get something out of."
"I could not believe how deep we were last year," he said. "My second seven runners, my junior varsity, were better than some of the varsity teams I've had – they were that strong. I never thought I'd have another year as deep as that one, but it's starting to look like we're going to be right there again this year."
That depth is a big reason Central Valley is ranked No. 7 in the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association preseason poll.
"I don't put a lot of stock in polls at this point in the season," McGuire said. "Freshmen have a way of coming in and making a really big impact on programs. You have to wait until you have a couple meets under your belt before you can really see what you have.
"The thing is, girls can run themselves into shape and surprise you at the end of the season. That's not true for the boys."
This year's CV senior group, led by Eden Lake and Ari Rios, provided the depth the Bears needed to place sixth at the 2005 state meet. The next year that pair, along with fellow sophomore Breanna Barsten, led the team to a seventh-place state finish.
All four Spokane Valley teams ran Saturday at the All-Valley meet at Liberty Lake.
Central Valley BearsThe Bears, the defending Eastern Regional champs, placed fifth at last year's state Class 4A meet and return five of their top six finishers.
Lake and sophomore Madi Barnes were All-State runners a year ago after placing 14th and 17th, respectively. Josie Warner was the Bears No. 3 finisher at state last year as a freshman, placing a respectable 55th with a time of 20 minutes, 28 seconds. Rios, along with Lake, is gunning for a fourth-straight state-meet entry while Barsten has her eyes on a third-straight appearance.
"Every year the team dynamics change," McGuire said. "Last year we had a great group of senior leaders. We don't have the same type of leaders this year, but we have great leaders in their own right. We have a group who have taken on the senior leadership role tremendously well. They just take over and make sure everyone is where they're supposed to be on race day."
Coach James Berry has a solid group of boys, but just two runners return from last year's fourth-place state team.
Seniors Kyle Staples and Justin Hoff ran the Liberty Lake course in 17:21 and 17:41, respectively, placing fourth and fifth in their flight. Junior Bryan Aguilar ran 17:59 to place second by one second, with Will Richards and Rudy Spencer right behind him.
Freshman Drew Brown turned an 18:01 to win his flight.
Staples and Aguilar both ran at state.
East Valley KnightsLongtime head coach Dave McCarty steps down this season, switching places with his assistant coach Bill Close.
The good news is this: The Knights did not lose a single runner to graduation. The bad news? The GSL 3A is home to the top boys cross country team in the country and the two-time defending state champions in North Central. Mt. Spokane is ranked third in the preseason 3A poll.
The Knights reached last year's regional. Senior Tyler Sullivan ran a 17:30 at Wandermere a year ago while junior Merrill Lines turned in a 17:38 and sophomore Jaren Novakovich a 17:52.
Senior state veteran Lauren Bergam returns to lead the Lady Knights. Bergam ran 20:46 at state a year ago and was seventh at the regional with a 19:52 at Wandermere. She opened the season by running 20:23 to place second in the senior flight of the All-Valley meet.
Jenna Briggs, who ran second for the Knights as a freshman, won the sophomore All-Valley flight with a 23:01, eight seconds behind teammate Kim Thatcher, who finished second.
The Knights also finished 1-2 in the freshman flight. Megan Denzin ran an impressive 22:43 to win, with Darby Novakovich second at 23:33.
University TitansCoach Chrissy Francek is the proud new mother of a 2-month-old baby boy and is taking a year off from teaching and is a volunteer assistant for cross country this fall. Jessi Walters, an assistant coach the past three seasons, takes over a solid group of runners for the year.
Senior Stevie Gildehaus is a two-time state meet veteran and the winner of the senior flight at Saturday's All-Valley meet, with a time of 20:11. In fact, the Titans had three of the top five finishers in the senior flight, with Maddy Fuchs turning in a 21:46 to place fourth and McCall Minarik a 21:59 to place fifth.
Juniors Lauren Baird and Meagan Hawkins placed 3-4 in the junior race with times of 22:07 and 22:11. For Hawkins that time marks a 4-minute improvement over her time in the same race a year ago.
Senior Anthony Brown, who missed all of last year, returned with a strong first outing, winning the senior flight of the All-Valley meet by a wide margin, crossing in 16:15 – a full 45 second ahead of his nearest competitor.
In all, the Titans had the winner of the senior, junior and sophomore flights. Mark Fey won the junior flight with a time of 17:58, edging CV's Bryan Aguilar by a second. Jon Smith was the top sophomore with a winning time of 17:42, the day's second-fastest winning time and one worthy of a top 10 finish in the senior flight.
West Valley EaglesCoach Jim McLachlan's girls squad enters the season ranked seventh in the state's 2A preseason poll for good reason, returning five of the seven runners who earned the Eagles a third-place state finish a year ago.
Senior Krystal Hughes placed 13th at last year's state meet with a time of 19:56 – just four seconds shy of earning All-State honors for all classifications. Juniors Rachel Rubright and Senaida Monroy, senior Stacia Kline and sophomore Shaylee Davis all ran at state.
A key loss, however, is junior Alex Fraser, who turned in a 21:09 at state last year.
"Alex just felt she couldn't do two sports at the same time any more," McLachlan said. "She was running cross country and playing club soccer at the same time last year. Soccer really is her first love, so this year she decided that she needed to play soccer full time and joined the school team.
"I hate to lose her, but she had to follow her heart."
Hughes turned a 21:19 to place third in her flight at Saturday's All-Valley meet while Rubright won the junior flight with a 21:53 effort. Virginia House, last year's state-meet alternate, was fourth in the junior flight with a 23:13, 10 seconds ahead of teammate Monroy, who placed fifth.
The West Valley boys have two strong seniors leading the way.
Justin Degenhardt and Michael White finished 2-3 at the All-Valley meet, turning in a 17:00 and 17:06 respectively.
Behind them, the Eagles are young.
Freshman Steven Degroot, who ran 19:35 in his first meet to place third in his All-Valley flight, earned a spot on the varsity.