Red Wolves’ cross country ready to hit the trails
Published 10:13 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
With six years under his belt as cross country coach at
Cedarcrest High School, Bruce McDowell thinks the time has come
for his thinclads to make a move up the KingCo ladder.
Last year, the Red Wolves boys finished fourth in the league
and tenth at districts, while standout James Conrich qualified
for the state championship. The girls’ team finished ninth in the
final league standings.
“We have four strong returnees on the boys’ squad,”
said McDowell. &”They’re eager to be better than last year.
We’re shooting for the top three in the league, and top six at
districts.
“As for the girls, this year we’ll be competing with a
complete team for only the second time. I’d say they’re young and
healthy, but they might be held back by their inexperience.”
Inexperience with both squads – and an injury-free season –
are what concern the coach the most. Therefore, he intends to
rely on his strong core of veteran runners to lead the way for
the others.
Returning on the men’s side of the house are senior Eric
Pedeferri and juniors James Conrick, Chris Lee and Danny Abell.
They’ll be bolstered by key freshmen Pat Conrick and Chris
Martin.
The women will look to returning sophomores Yingxuan Law and
Michelle Whyman. Freshmen Kelly Ramirez, Maggie Diaz and Sarah
Green will also be expected to play a big part in the team’s
success.
Notably, the men’s squad has three brother “teams”
besides the Conricks, consisting of Chris and Brian Lee, Eric and
Aaron Pedeferri and Jarod and Chris Martin. Coach McDowell said
it’s kind of “weird,” but added he’s glad to have the
freshman representatives from the Conrick, Lee, Pedeferri and
Martin families.
The Red Wolves’ season will kick off – or perhaps more
accurately, run off – this Saturday with competition at two
invitational tournaments. The girls are traveling to Shoreline
for their annual meet, while the boys will head up Sound a bit
for the Edmonds Invitational.
“They’re both big invitationals, with anywhere from 30 to
40 teams,” said McDowell. “Last year’s meets had all
the great teams from places like the Tri-Cities, the Spokane
area, and other schools.
“They usually involve a lot of the big 4A schools, so
it’s actually a good preview for us in KingCo.”
As for the conference schedule, it will start on Thursday,
Sept. 16, when the two squads travel to Issaquah to take on
Liberty and Sammamish High Schools. The last regular season
cross-country event is Oct. 14, when the Wolves host Mount Si
High.
In the meantime, Coach McDowell and assistant coach Lisa
Windle hope to get the most out of their runners, with hopefully
a good outcome for all concerned.
“We’re looking for some experience, and we’ll work
towards the future,” said McDowell.
