The path to state seems even wider for Sequim boys’ cross country team after after another convincing win — this time as the Olympic League champions.
Sequim boys cruised to take the Olympic League Meet on Oct. 23 with 20 points while the Lady Wolves took second with 55 points behind Port Angeles’ 26 points.
After finishing second among varsity boys with 16:26.46 in the 5,000 meter, Brendon Despain said getting the teams to state is what’s most in their mind.
“It’s not in the back of our minds,” he said. “It’s in the front.”
Despain said it felt good to place second but everyone has a team mindset.
“We’re all a team and cheer each other on,” Despain said. “We all want to go to state.”
Sequim boys took second-sixth in league with Jackson Oliver following Despain in third (16:29.13), Mikey Cobb fourth (16:30.84), CJ Daniels fifth (16:33.03) and Peter Ohnstad sixth (16:36.92). Fellow Wolves Chris Jeffko finished 11th at 16:54.87 and Wendall Lorenzen 13th at 17:34.45 in the varsity race. Ryan Clarke of Port Townsend led all runners at 16:00.88.
Minus Clarke who competes in 1A, Despain took first among 2A competitors followed by Jackson in second, Cobb third, Daniels fourth and Ohnstad fifth.
Most of the Sequim boys improved their times with Despain improving by 30 seconds from 2013, Oliver by 35 seconds, Cobb by 25 seconds, Daniels by 25 seconds, Jeffko by about 4 seconds, and Lorenzen by more than a minute.
Assistant coach Michael Cobb said the wind and rain started right at the gun, making the race a difficult one for the boys.
The varsity boys ran equal mile times at about 5:10, said head coach Harold Huff, and they were at about 5:13 the first mile, close on the second but dropped off in the third.
Christian Ash won the junior varsity race for
Sequim at 18:01.85 followed by Chase Ridgeway in second (18:36.31), Andrew Hansted in fourth (19:11.84) and Evan Chatters (19:27.77) and Bryce Dryke (19:28.48) in sixth and seventh.
Road to state
First-year runner Waverly Shreffler led Sequim’s girls with a second-place finish overall at 20:12.83.
Port Angeles freshman Gracie Long outpaced her by 1:12 for first place.
Shreffler, who runs cross country to build her endurance for track in the spring, said she didn’t have a lot of expectations for the race.
“It’s a big deal (to finish second) but honestly I started cross country to compete against myself,” she said.
Emily Webb ran to a fifth-place finish at 21:05.08 and improved her time by 2:38 from last year’s league meet.
“It felt like I was a little slower, but I’m surprised how I did,” Webb said. “It was a hard race. After the first mile, I realized I could carry myself through it.”
Other Wolves runners Audrey Shingleton finished 11th at 21:24.24, Noelle Bittner 15th (21.54.79), Erin Vig 16th (22:05.31), Alexis Cromer 19th (22.40.03) and Siana Turner 23rd (23.03.77). Elizabeth Rosales took first in junior varsity and 27th overall with 23:12.63.
Webb said her hope is that the whole team can go to state, which is held this year in Pasco on Nov. 8.
Huff said the score may not reflect it but the Lady Wolves came a lot closer to Port Angeles at the meet.
“Emily and Audrey had their best races of the year,” he said.
Leading up to districts at the Westside Classic at the American Lake Golf Course, Huff said the boys and girls will train differently leading up to next Saturday.
“The varsity boys will start training Saturday morning with a full week of training with no tapering off,” he said. “I think they can handle it. They’re still going to get out of districts easily.”
Huff said the girls will train differently to rest them somewhat prior to districts.
“We need a little more out of a few of them but we’re running them as best as we can,” he said. “A couple of them like Emily and Erin can run a little better. They ran well but can do better at districts.”
