Falcon runners unstoppable at district meet

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, November 6, 2002

Friday should not have been a good day.

Showing up at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon for the second time in eight days, two South Whidbey cross country teams had titles to win. Against the same eight teams they had beaten on the same course in the previous Friday’s conference championship race, the Falcon boys and girls were back to take the District 1 title as well.

While there was little to stop the South Whidbey girls — who had out scrambled runner-up Mount Baker by a big 22 points the week before — the Falcon boys were in trouble before they boarded the bus for the trip north that morning. Two of the team’s top three runners — junior James Sundquist and sophomore Holton Schmitt — were hurt.

Both injured ankles two days after they helped their team dust Lakewood at the conference meet. Sundquist was out; he’d watch the race from the sidelines. Schmitt would run, but hadn’t recovered enough to place in the top 10 for the second week in a row.

Friday was not shaping up to be a good day.

That was until the Falcons started running. Inspired by the girls team, which again wedged its top five runners into the top 12 to just nip a charging red pack of Mountaineers, the boys used something few cross country teams across the state have ever had: depth.

With Sundquist out, Schmitt hobbled, and the team’s assumed top runner at the start of the season still unable to run after dealing with an injury all season, the Falcon boys still found the speed among the remainder to win. Freshman JD Peters, who had a career run the week before, moved up through the lead pack to take Sundquist’s place, cutting six seconds off his previous best of 17:18 to place fourth overall.

Three places behind him, senior Jasper Hein was reaching even deeper. After hitting his own personal best on the asphalt and sawdust trails at SVC at the conference meet, he pushed through “normal running pain” to lop 20 seconds off his previous best on the course to cross the line in seventh place.

Apparently, finding a new level of pain was a good thing.

“It felt good,” he said Monday.

Also moving up for the team was junior Jeff Strong. On the Mount Vernon course, which measured slightly shorter than the 5-kilometer standard for high school races, Strong smashed through the 18-minute barrier that had barred him from the lead pack all season. His 17:42 finish was fast enough for ninth place and to move him from being the team’s sixth man to third.

“The last race was the first time all season I found out how fast I could push myself,” he said.

Falcon coach Doug Fulton was not surprised that the boys won shorthanded. He’d known all week that the placings the remaining runners posted at the conference meet would be good enough for a second win. But he wasn’t telling, just in case anyone was looking to ease off on the end-of-season intensity.

“They knew they could step up,” he said.

Filling in the remaining scoring gaps for the Falcon boys were sophomore Justin Serrill, who placed 12th, and freshman Chris dePender in 17th place on career best finish of 18:05. Schmitt was the number six runner for the team in 21st place, while Conley White, who was the fifth man for the team a week earlier, pulled an abdominal muscle early in the race and faded to 35th by the time he crossed the finish line.

A freshman takes the lead

In the girls race, freshman Mary Bakeman gave the Falcon lineup a new look.

Running close to team leader Callie Supsinskas for the second week in a row, Bakeman found herself feeling unprepared at the head of the South Whidbey bunch after pulling away from her teammate in the final mile.

“I got a little scared,” she said.

Not too scared. Bakeman wound up charging the finish line, battling Nooksack Valley senior Jackie Lewis in a sprint for third place. Though she lost that battle, she was the first of a flood of royal blue at the head of the race.

About 15 seconds behind, Supsinskas just held off senior Julie Gabelein as the two locked up fifth and sixth place. Though the pair was slower this week than last, Gabelein said they still ran the way they needed for a team victory.

“The reason why we’re doing so well is we’re packing it up,” she said.

Packing up behind her were sophomores Nancy Godsey and Becky Gabelein in 11th and 12th places. Their finishes slammed the door on Mount Baker, whose two best runners, Andrea Brown and Karin Rohde, had taken first and second place.

Also running for the Falcons were Kellie Degraaf in 16th place, and Natalie Alexander, in 26th.

Both the boys and girls teams earned a trip to the state meet with their finishes. On Saturday, the girls will take their shot at winning a state title at 10:30 a.m. in Pasco. The boys will get their chance at 12:30 p.m.

The top three boys teams in the district go to the state meet. The top two girls teams earn a trip to Pasco.