MILL CREEK
Last year, Jackson’s boys cross country team finished second in the 4A state meet, but lost three of its top six runners. So where does that leave the Timberwolves this year?
How about 13th in the nation, which is where they were ranked in the Harrier Super 25 released Aug. 14 of this year.
Ferris, of Spokane is the only 4A Washington school ranked higher.
The girls are no slouch either. They finished fifth in the state meet last year, but lost four of their top seven runners.
But as a whole, the Jackson cross country team has not had a problem reloading in recent years. Overall, it makes Jackson one of the best combined programs in the state.
With all the success that Jackson has had, it must have some pretty good coaches, but it is the coaches who are quick to deflect the praise to the athletes.
“The responsibility isn’t ours; it’s the upper-class (man) kids. The junior and senior kids really take ownership of the program and help us to find good young kids to continue to keep the program going,” boys coach Eric Hruschka said.
“Basically good kids attract good kids,” girls coach Craig Bowen said.
Hruschka has coached the boys since the school opened in 1994. Bowen has served as girls coach at Jackson for the last five years.
Both Hruschka and Bowen believe that identifying talent before the runners get to high school is key to the success of the program.
Jackson also doesn’t have any shortage of kids to choose from. Hruschka said that on average they get 50 boys and 25-30 girls to turn out for the team each year. He even recalled a year where 106 kids turned out combined.
“I would say we are top five annually,” Hruschka said of the team’s turnout.
Having such a large turn out means the coaches have to utilize the time they spend with the athletes to the best of their ability.
“To me the biggest challenge is to make every kid understand that he or she is important to the program and we are trying to help them get better,” Bowen said. “I figure if we can do that, success will follow.”
“If you practice for two hours and you have sixty kids out there, that gives you two minutes per kid,” Hruschka said.
Another reason for the success of the program is most of the top runners also run long distance track events in the spring that helps to keep them in shape year round.
Other runners use cross country to prepare them for another sport.
“One of the best runners I have ever had is Brent Lillibridge, who is playing pro baseball now,” Hruschka said.
Hruschka and Bowen are just as supportive of the kids who are out there to use cross country to help prepare for another sport.
“You got to work on their individual goals and that is what makes it easier for them is when the coaches care about their goals,” Hruschka said.
The coaches have one other ingredient in their recipe for success. It’s something many coaches forget … fun.
“My philosophy is if you do it right it should feel like its 90 percent social and 10 percent work to the kids,” Hruschka said. “In reality they’re working pretty hard, but it should not feel that way if we do it right.”
Both Jackson teams lost their fair share of those hard workers to graduation last year.
The boys lost top runner Ben Lance, number two to three runner Ian McLeod and number five to six runner Derek Woolsey. Lance is running at Gonzaga, McLeod is running at Western Washington and Woolsey is running at Northwest Christian.
The girls team said goodbye to its top runner Alison Ponce, its number two runner Stephanie Hauck and its number six and seven runners, Riley Nelson and Jessica Le respectively. Ponce will be running at the University of Washington, Hauck will run at Western and Nelson will run at Boise State.
“It always affects you when you lose key seniors,” Jackson girls coach Craig Bowen said.
Seniors Mitchell Briggs and Connor Fredrickson along with junior Sean Roe will lead this year’s Jackson boys team. They will be joined by sophomore Black Nelson, junior Grant Grosvenor, senior Nathan Calacat, senior Nick Schonewald and senior Chris Knakal to round out the top seven runners for Jackson.
Despite losing three of the top six runners, Hruschka expected that the team would be ranked high.
“I did, because of our depth,” Hruschka said.
He said that the team reloaded but didn’t rebuild and that last year is behind them. “We want to be the team of 2009, not 2008.”
The girls will be led by senior Juliette Becker, the top returning runner from last year, sophomore Kelsey Fruland and junior Claire Wilson.
It would appear that graduation was a bit more brutal on the girls team, but Bowen was modestly confident.
“Our girls are going to be competitive, on paper there are some better teams coming back,” Bowen said. “The chance is always there. If we can get our girls to come out and run as well as they can then we will score it at the end and see what happens. I like the attitude so far.”
Hruschka and Bowen always have their eye on the future as well. How else could they build such a successful program?
“We talk about it (the future) regularly throughout the year,” Hruschka said. “Annually we are working on things to make our program better.”
STRONG START: The Timberwolves are the leaders of the pack. Off to a strong start this season, the Jackson High School boys cross country team is ranked No. 1 in last week’s Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association Class 4A poll.
Previously ranked second behind Ferris of Spokane, the T-wolves rose to the top slot after Ferris placed fifth in its division Saturday at the Stanford Invitational in California.
Jackson, which dominated a five-team Western Conference meet Thursday in Lake Stevens, also is ranked nationally. The T-wolves were No. 6 in the DyeStat Elite/ESPN RISE FAB 50 released Friday. Ferris was No. 5.
Other local teams ranked first in the latest state coaches poll are Glacier Peak (3A girls), Cedarcrest (2A girls) and King’s (1A girls).
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
