Bywater and Van Santen anchor Lake Stevens boys

Published 12:07 am Friday, September 14, 2007

LAKE STEVENS — On almost any other team Kyle Van Santen would be The Man.

The senior is one of Washington’s best prep cross country runners, based largely on his impressive 14th-place finish at last year’s Class 4A state championships.

But Van Santen happens to run for Lake Stevens High School, which means one of his teammates is Joey Bywater, a three-time state track and field champion in distance events. Bywater, a senior sought by high-profile college recruiters across the country, was runner-up in last season’s 4A championships, finishing the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 48 seconds — 19 seconds faster than Van Santen.

So, whether it’s fair or not, Bywater tends to get tons of attention while Van Santen plugs away as an outstanding but less heralded athlete.

Fortunately for Lake Stevens, which has won fourth-place team trophies at the past two state meets, Bywater and Van Santen don’t squabble over such trivial matters. They’re actually close friends and team co-captains, bonded by their love for running and mutual respect for each other’s talent.

Bywater said Van Santen has helped him improve significantly the last few years. Van Santen actually beat Bywater last October at the district championships.

“Van Santen gets totally overlooked because Joey is here,” Lake Stevens co-head coach Cliff Chaffee said, “but Van Santen is a very legitimate runner in his own right.” Conversely, Van Santen credits Bywater with challenging him to work harder.

“Sophomore year he came in and pushed me to do better,” said Van Santen, who added that their inter-squad competition was a bit awkward at first but a friendship quickly blossomed.

Bywater and Van Santen are the Nos. 1 and 2 runners on a Vikings team that hopes to match or hopefully exceed what it did the past two seasons. Lake Stevens is ranked seventh in 4A in the current Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

“We’re expected to do better, so we need to work harder,” Van Santen said.

Lake Stevens returns three of its top five runners from 2006. Scott Larson, now a junior, placed 84th in the state. The other two athletes in the Vikings’ top-five pack are junior Drew Larson and senior Daniel Lantz, Chaffee said.

Lake Stevens will get plenty of competition from Western Conference North Division foe Snohomish. Ranked No. 6 in the 4A coaches’ poll, the Panthers beat Lake Stevens Sept. 8 in the Edmonds Invite.

Asked about his goals for the season, Bywater said his priority is to help lead Lake Stevens to another top-eight team trophy. But make no mistake: the senior would love to earn his first state cross country title.

“I really want it ‘cause I don’t think of myself as just a track runner,” said Bywater, who won the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races in May at the 4A state track meet.

To get the cross country crown Bywater must contend with Van Santen, as well several other local standouts like Yon Yilma of Edmonds-Woodway, the 2006 District 1 cross country champ who placed 11th at state.

“He’s really good. He’s really the one to look out for in my district,” said Bywater, who finished four seconds behind Yilma at the Edmonds Invite.

Outside the county, Gig Harbor senior Miles Unterreiner is another “tough” opponent, said Bywater.

Chaffee called Bywater’s summer training “total commitment.” Along with his teammates, Bywater practiced three days a week starting at 7:45 a.m. and attended a challenging camp in White Pass. He, Van Santen and the other Lake Stevens competitors ran an average of 30-40 miles per week to prepare for the season, one that Bywater hopes will end with him and the Vikings winning even more coveted hardware.

Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at heraldnet.com/doubleteam.