LSHS cross country sprints to the end of their season

Injuries aside, cross country looks strong going into the qualifiers

Marin Nielsen

“The only good use for a golf course”: Senior Bryce Mefford and sophomore Ki Thomas approach the second mile marker in their Varsity Cross Country meet at Cedarcrest Golf Course. With only a mile left to go, Mefford injured his ankle and fell to his coaches seconds after this photo was taken. With a grimace, Mefford dropped out of the Varsity race and with his coaches help, limped back to the Lake Stevens XC tent. Though he was injured, Mefford is expected to make a fast recovery and race in at the Wesco Divisional Meet on October 21.

Marin Nielsen, Staff Reporter & Design Editor
October 17, 2017

With a large portion of attention being funneled to the Varsity football team, it sometimes feels like other sports go overshadowed even if they are excelling like JV and Varsity Cross Country. Not only are the teams as a whole doing spectacularly against other schools, but certain individuals are creating new personal records and racing against their peers to move up in the ranks.

 

At the October 7 Hole in the Wall Invitational, Viking XC faced 99 other teams and managed to hold up to the stiff competition. In the 5,000 meters Boys Fresh/Soph 2, Carter Edens, Trey Roe, Landon Erickson, Casey Rummelhart, Cameron Mefford, Bryce Lewis and Tanner Bryant won 1st. In the 5,000 Meters JV Girls 24:00-26:00 race the Vikings managed to get 2nd place and in the 5,000 Meters JV Girls Team avg under 24:00, Zoie Mastin, Kira Abels, Jessie Schnieder, Miah Allison, Shelby Teter, Brooklyn Murkerson and Hayleigh Tramm won 1st. In the 5,000 Meters JV Boys team average under 21:00, the Vikings won 4th. In terms of Varsity, in the 5,000 Meters Team average under 22:30, the girls won 19th and in the 5,000 Meters team average under 18:00, Boys Varsity won 13th.

 

Going back to the September 30 Nike Twilight Invitational, LSHS XC raced at the Cedarcrest Golf Course at one of the largest meets of their season. In the 5,000 Meters open races, boys placed 10th while girls placed 8th. In the 5,000 Meters freshman/sophomore race, both girls and boys JV won 1st place and in the junior/senior race, both girls and boys won 3rd. In the Varsity 3A-4A races, boys took 13th while girls clinched 11th place.

 

Back in September, Viking XC traveled to South Whidbey for the Carl Westling X-Country Invitation where they faced 24 local teams. Lake Stevens Boys Varsity Division 1 placed 4th overall while JV Boys under 22:00 placed 2nd and JV Boys over 22:00 placed 8th. Girls Varsity placed 8th overall and JV Girls placed 5th. At the meet, two individuals excelled greatly, as senior Cody LaCoursiere broke 18 minutes in the 5k and junior Rory Flinn raced a minute faster than she did as a freshman, breaking 22:40.

 

However, the Viking athletes’ competitive mentalities are also applied to their own peers.

“The next person I’m kinda looking to beat is Bryce Mefford. I kind of don’t want to be taking advantage of the fact that he just twisted his ankle, but he’s the number four, I’m the number five, that kind of just how it works,” senior Nathan McGinty said.

However, McGinty mentioned this healthy competitive mentality is balanced out with the team’s family-like dynamic that is “almost too tight”, a sentiment that is carried through many extracurriculars here at LSHS.