Prep Cross-Country Outlook | A sport for everybody

Nick Schneidmiller never has run for the varsity, but has stuck with Bishop Blanchet's cross-country program for four years.

In one of his first races as a freshman, he was last by a considerable margin. But as he approached the finish line, every coach and runner in the Blanchet program cheered for him. It remains one of the most touching moments of his life.

"Everyone else had finished and it really meant a lot to me," he said. "It was good to know that my team supported me and wanted me to be the best I could."

Feel-good stories are common in cross country, a sport that doesn't get a lot of headlines but attracts more than 100 participants at some schools and a statewide total of more than 8,000. Washington has built a good reputation in cross country, and North Central High of Spokane is the top-ranked boys team in the nation.

Many cross-country folks consider their sport underappreciated, and they can cite a roll call of reasons for its high participation figures.

After all, it is an inexpensive, no-cut sport and everyone is assured of getting to compete. Although the top seven runners are designated "varsity" and the performance of the top five make up the team score, everyone gets to run even if it is in a junior-varsity race.

Redmond coach Denis Villeneuve jokes that the slowest runner on his team "gets more playing time than anyone on our squad."

Cross country is a coed sport and therefore a social sport. Boys and girls often enjoy each other's company on autumn afternoons, and the weather usually stays good until mid-October.

The No. 1 carrot in cross country is carefully measured improvement.

"If you run every day and put in the work, you're going to see your meet times get faster and that's very satisfying," said Garfield junior Sam Dunnington.

Good coaches make a point to keep detailed records of each runner's performances and publicly congratulate those who have personal-best outings.

"That's the way you keep the last runner on the team hooked," said Bishop Blanchet boys coach John O'Leary, who has 53 boys on his team. "He's not necessarily competing against second-to-last. He's competing against himself. He's trying to improve his own time."

The sport is an even better conditioner than most people realize. That's because coaches make their athletes strengthen their upper bodies and core (stomach and lower back muscles) because running involves more than just strong legs.

"Cross country creates opportunities for exploring the concepts of perseverance, patience and the ability to deal with discomfort and frustration," said Lakeside coach Sally Revere, who coaches boys and girls. "I think many kids are drawn to cross country and stay with the sport regardless of ability level because they realize the applications the sport has in their non-athletic lives. I have heard that from alums as well as current members of the team."

Cross country attracts a lot of bright, motivated kids and coaches who enjoy their jobs.

"Everyone is really smart," said Redmond senior Brianna May, who has stuck with the program for four years but never cracked the top seven on her team. "You have to motivate yourself. All of the kids are really self-motivated."

Fellow senior Ben Thompson, an Eagle Scout, said, "One of the reasons I like the sport is that the people are really good. We're all pretty nice to each other and get along."

Varsity runners feel pressure in races not to disappoint teammates.

A South King County sophomore girl, who didn't want to be named, spent last fall on her school's swimming team and said, "There is a lot more pressure in cross country than there was last year when I did swimming."

A varsity team often needs full performance out of all seven runners because the two runners whose performances aren't counted in the team score can help by "displacing" rival teams by finishing ahead of their runners. This gives the opponent a higher score in this sport where low score wins.

A negative of the sport is that a small percentage of girls develop eating disorders because they equate less weight with faster times. Coaches preach nutrition and do what they can to monitor it.

Although cross-country finish lines are exciting, the sport isn't spectator-friendly because the runners are out of sight on most courses for long stretches. After all, this is the ultimate over-the-river-and-through-the-woods sport.

There is a lot of coaching creativity in cross country.

At Mercer Island, coach Erica Hill divides the 70 boys and 50 girls into "families" of about 10 headed by an upperclassman.

At Redmond, Villeneuve has a "virtue of the week" (last week it was "being positive") and a quote of the day.

Villeneuve also tries to keep workouts fresh and the day before a meet his teams sometimes play "tag." At Lakeside, designated team members sometimes hide on a route with a deck of cards and runners who find them get a card. When everyone arrives at the finish area, the best "hand" is determined on that day's designated card game.

Newcomers to the sport are prone to minor injuries because they haven't built a "base" of mileage. Coaches routinely have different workouts for different groups of runners, with the most experienced going longer and harder.

Ballard coach Bruce Drager said one of the biggest challenges is "figuring out how do I get the most out of a kid but not exceed his or her limits. I want them to get to the end of the season healthy and happy."

And that seems to be the state of most kids who go out for cross country — healthy and happy.