Sequim High cross country coaches are looking to get their team members in shape after the three-month-long break from school sports.
Fortunately, they’ll have a new and improved space to work on their speed.
Last week saw SHS coaches overseeing speed-work on the newly-refurbished track at Stáʔčəŋ Stadium as they prep for their season-opener, an invitational on Sept. 14 in Tacoma.
“Some kids are coming in athletic but [most] kids across the board are not conditioned,” Sequim assistant coach BJ Schade noted at a preseason practice on Sept. 3.
“But we’ve got some potential, some good runners.”
Sequim lost a pair of key veteran leaders to graduation in Kaitlyn Bloomenrader, a three-time state qualifier, and Colby Ellefson, a two-time state competitor, and overall numbers are off a bit, with the Wolves sporting just eight girls on the 2024 roster to go with about 21 boys.
Sequim’s girls, however, see the return of five of its top seven runners from the league meet last season: Dawn Hulstedt, Lilly Despain, Dulce Goldner, Bridget “Birdie” Pyeatt and Mia Kirner.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Dawn Hulstedt races to a third place finish at an Olympic League cross country meet in Sequim in 2023.
Hulstedt placed ninth at the league meet and 34th at districts to earn a state 2A meet berth (she didn’t compete at state because of an injury). She’s also coming off a 2024 track season where she qualified for the state 2A meet in the 800- and 1,600-meter races.
“Dawn is a pretty safe bet [to get back to state]; she’s not in prime shape but she should get that back,” Schade said.
Goldner, Despain, Pyeatt and Goldner each clocked in at about 25 minutes and placed near the middle of the pack at the district meet, with Kirner not far behind, as SHS placed eighth as a team.
On the boys’ side, two of Sequim’s trio of fleet-footed freshmen are back for their sophomore campaigns. Despite losing Bowen Zhu, who moved out of the area, Sequim gets back Reid Randall and Adrian Osborne for the 2024 season.
Randall, nursing a shin injury this preseason, took 25th at the league meet and 46th at districts, just missing a state meet berth, while Osborne was 26th at the league meet and set a personal 5k best at district the following week.
Freshman Westley French — one of 12 newcomers to the boys’ team and one of nine incoming ninth-graders — has shown some promise early on as well, Schade said.
“He’s really athletic; he definitely just needs some miles,” he said.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Jackson Hines gets a high-leg workout at the SHS track last week as he and cross country teammates prep for the 2024 season.
Cross country can a good fit for Sequim High athletes who concentrate on other sports — boys soccer, in particular — because it helps them be conditioned along with the jumping and sprinting exercises they do, Schade said. But the program sometimes struggles to recruit with recruiting girls, who also have soccer, volleyball and swimming team options in the fall.
Schade said the teams will benefit a good deal from having the new track, praising Sequim schools superintendent Regan Nickels and Mike Santos, the district’s director facilities, operations and security, for getting the project completed.
“It’s an amazing resource to have; I think everyone is happy to have this,” Schade said.
Following the season-opener at the Bellarmine Invitational on Sept. 14, the Wolves open the Olympic League campaign on Sept. 18 at Kingston. As in previous recent seasons, league meets will be open to all league teams; this year, Bainbridge drops down from 3A to join the 2A ranks.
Sequim hosts a league meet at Voice of America on Oct. 2, as well as the league championship races on Oct. 24 at The Cedars at Dungeness golf course.
Fall sports preview: SHS cross country
Head coach: Paul Brinkman (sixth year); assistant: B.J. Schade
2023 record: Girls — Third at Olympic League final, eighth at districts; two athletes to state 2A meet; Boys — Third at Olympic League final, 10th at districts; one athlete to state 2A meet
Returning athletes: Girls — Dawn Hulstedt (sr.), Dulce Goldner (sr.), Mia Kirner (sr.), Lilly Despain (sr.), Bridget “Birdie” Pyeatt (so.). Boys — Sean Southard (sr.), Reid Randall (so.), Adrian Osborne (so.), Connor Goff (sr.), Easton Sisemore (jr.), Cooper Farley (jr.), Brandon Bair (so.), Julian Broadfoot (so.), Zachary Sterrett (so.)
Newcomers: Girls — Marea Denton (fr.), Amelie Marton (fr.), Sophia Rhynes (so.). Boys — Isaac Brown (fr.), Daniel Colwill (fr.), Westley French (fr.), Meikel Hagedorn (sr.), Jackson Hines (jr.), Lewis Irven (fr.), Landyn Mathews-Bucy (so.), Ryker Rossi (fr.), William Struve (fr.), Johnathan Tipton (fr.), Joshua Wakefield (fr.), Taylor Wolsegel (fr.)
Schedule: Sept. 14 at Bellarmine Invitational, Tacoma; Sept. 18 at Kingston; Sept. 25 at North Mason; Oct. 2 home meet, Voice of America; Oct. 5 at John Payne Invitational, University Place; Oct. 9 at Port Angeles; Oct. 12 at Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational, Lakewood; Oct. 24 at Olympic League championships, The Cedars at Dungeness golf course; Nov. 2 at Westside Classic (district meet), University Place; Nov. 9 at 2A state meet, Pasco.
