With less than a week to go before the district meet, Marysville Getchell High School cross country coach Randy Edens was wondering why three of his runners weren’t at practice Monday.
The answer was a coach’s worst fear.
Three Marysville Getchell cross country runners were involved in a car crash Monday just before 2:30 p.m., killing one and seriously injuring the other two. Juan Mendoza, who police said was driving the Honda Civic, died at the scene. Lars Kundu and Andy Vavrousek both were seriously injured and taken by helicopter to a Seattle hospital.
Kundu, whose brother Erik was MG’s top finisher in last weekend’s Wesco championships (17th overall), was listed in critical condition in intensive care Tuesday morning. Vavrousek, whose mother teaches for the school district, was listed in satisfactory condition but might be released later Tuesday, officials said.
“It was strange because we hadn’t seen Juan at practice,” Edens said. “He’s one of our (runners who qualified for district) so we were all kind of wondering.”
Edens said he and the team learned about the crash after practice.
“It was chaotic,” Edens said. “It was really tough from 5:30 on.”
Mendoza, a junior, was known more for his ability on the soccer field. He was All-Wesco honorable mention last spring as a member of the Marysville Pilchuck’s boys soccer team and was enjoying good success in his second year running cross country. He was the second Charger to finish at the Wesco 3A championship race on Saturday, placing 18th and qualifying for this weekend’s 3A District 1 meet.
“He was a very talented athlete and he really impressed us with his hard work,” Edens said.
Edens spoke this morning before he’d had a chance to meet formally with his team. He said he would leave it up to his runners to decide whether or not they want to go to districts.
“I know it’s a cliche, but we’re just taking it one day at a time,” the coach said. “We’ll talk today and I’ll let them decide over the next couple days as a group if they want to go (to districts). Erik was really close with Juan, and with his brother injured, he’s got a decision to make.”
A memorial account was established Tuesday morning. Contributions can be made to the Juan Mendoza Memorial Account, Home Street Bank, 1238 State Ave, Marysville, 98270.
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