For the week of August 21 - 27, 2002

Wood River thinclads get ready to run

2002 cross country preview

---

By nature, Wolverines are solitary animals, but the 2002 Wolverine cross county team will have plenty of company out on the trails.

Fourth-year coach James Foster and first-year assistant coach Joel Zellers welcomed 26 runners to pre-season practice on Monday.

"It is a long list," Foster remarked. "We have 17 boys and 11 girls."

Foster attributes the large number of runners to other coaches encouraging their athletes to go out for the team. Strength and stamina are prerequisites for any sport and cross country runners can gain an abundance of both during the season, laying a great foundation for the rest of the year.

"Chris Cey (Wood River softball) sent some of his girls over. We have basketball players and tennis players," Foster said.

The team is also bolstered by a large contingent of skiers from the Sun Valley Nordic team.

‘We can thank Rick Kapala for that," Foster said.

Jackson Harris, who finished ninth in the district meet last year and 41^st at state, returns for his junior year on the team. Foster also expects good things from veteran runners senior Matt DeCarufel, juniors Brian Ward, David Vanderpool and George Livingston, as well as talented sophomores Brad Bradford and Lucas Pletcher.

The senior class is rounded out by Jake Chaney, Chris McCarthy and Martin Isaksson, a Swedish foreign-exchange student, who is a top-flight nordic racer in his homeland.

Junior class members are Alex Hamlin, Chris Leblanc and Jeremy Selcho. Dawson Paschall is part of the sophomore class. New to the team this year are freshmen Ben Luck, Kyle Niedrich and Robbie Hamlin.

Senior Eva Bach, a two-time state participant who was third in last year’s district meet, heads up the girls’ squad, which includes senior Molly Meyers, who Foster tabbed as someone who will provide leadership along with Bach. Ashley Baker rounds out the senior class.

Other runners with big meet experience include juniors Jenni Boorda and Dawn Bird, and sophomore Rachael Richards, who finished ninth at districts as a freshman.

Amanda Moulton, Lindsay Niedrich and Natalie Green are part of the junior class. Sophomore runners include Laura Johnson and Syringa Stark.

Cross country meets are staged on a 3.1 mile course.

Foster and his team prepare for the season by doing a lot or speed work, intervals and power running on hills.

"We train over a variety of distances, but we are going hard," he said.

Zellers, formerly of Meridian High School, replaces Randy Berner as assistant coach. The Meridian girls’ team won the 2001 5A State cross country championship.

"It is fantastic to have him with his new ideas," Foster said. "We are looking forward to a great season."

The Wolverine thinclads open the season at the Valley Invitational on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.