Up for the challenge? You bet.
Coaches across the state ranked Sequim’s boys cross country squad No. 2 in the Class 2A division and the Wolves didn’t disappoint, taking on and beating all teams in all divisions at the Seaside Three-Course Challenge on Sept. 20.
That, combined with Sequim’s girls taking third in their division had SHS head coach Harold Huff acknowledging this was Sequim’s best showing at Seaside by far.
“Top to bottom, they had good races,” Huff said. “I was certainly happy — I don’t think I’ve had a team race to their potential (like) this group.”
With runners from 91 Washington and Oregon high schools in five divisions and a handful of middle school teams, Sequim’s boys were simply just too deep to beat. Led by seniors Mikey Cobb, Peter Ohnstad and Chase Ridgway and juniors Brendon Despain, C.J. Daniels, Jackson Oliver and Chris Jeffko, the Wolves won their division, scoring 80 points to easily outpace division foes Pendleton (319 points) and No. 3-ranked 2A Washington school Anacortes (446). In the cumulative standings, Sequim led all comers, outracing runner-up Mountain View of Oregon (117 points).
Sequim’s boys saw four runners earn top-10 finishes with no regard for division, with Cobb (seventh) running the “hard” course, Daniels (fourth) and Ohnstad (sixth) racing the “moderate” course, and Despain (fifth) taking to the “easy” course. Daniels had the top time of all Division 3 runners. In Division 3 standings, Oliver was seventh in his race, Jeffko was eighth and Christian Ash was 10th.
Huff said Oliver and Jeffko have shown great improvements, helping to push Sequim’s top four runners, and that Ridgway has run strong as well.
On the girls’ side, Sequim got its first look at junior Audrey Shingleton, who placed 10th on the “moderate” course in Division 3 despite recently recovering from a respiratory infection.
“Under the circumstances, she had a great race,” Huff said. “She’s better than that but she was sick.”
Waverly Shreffler took second in Division 3 on the “easy course” and freshman Noelle Bittner was 11th in her race by division.
Huff said the girls’ varsity team as a whole — Sheffler, Shingleton, Bittner, Siana Turner, Emily Webb, Erin Vig and Alexis Cromer — raced well.
Huff said the Wolves are performing well early on because off the offseason work they’ve put in.
“We had a talk about this last spring, that this season’s going to be won or lost in our summer workouts,” he said.
With a chance at a strong placing at state, Huff said he’s added more speedwork to the Wolves’ training this year than in previous seasons.
Sequim is at Olympic to take on the Trojans and North Kitsap Vikings before taking on Kingston and Klahowya on Oct. 1 in Kingston. The Wolves compete at the Curtis Invite on Oct. 4.
