Everyone knows that you should never look back during a race. As famed negro-leaguer Satchel Paige once put it, “Never look back, because something might be gaining on you.” In this instance, Paige could not be closer to the truth.

With Skyline moving up to 4A, the school has new opponents to face in every sport. However, this year’s cross country team looks to be as strong, or possibly even stronger than the 2006 team, headlined by Matt Frerker, which placed third at state.

Skyline XC 2006 3A Kingco Champions. Remaining members include Grant Watson far left, Simon Sorensen blonde and center, Travis Lund second from right, and Mark Frerker far right.

Although 4A does boast some impressive teams, Skyline feels very confident with its team going into the season, and has incredible depth unmatched in the program’s history.

Junior Mark Frerker, of the legendary Frerker lineage, is certain the team can place in the top three at Kingco, and then within the top six at state. Frerker, starved for media attention, added, “maybe even higher with the way we’ve been training in the offseason. I’m really excited to see how things turn out.”

Frerker has every right to be excited. There is a buzz around the team believing this could be a year to remember when all is said and done; or run and done, if you will.

Training since June, the cross country team has met four to five days a week the entire summer at 10 AM, when most students were just barely waking up to The Price is Right. Throughout the summer, the team has neared 40 miles per week consistently, including several runs over ten miles, with the longest clocking in at one hour, forty minutes. In case that doesn’t sound like much for whatever reason, that’s like running throughout your entire humanities block, uphill, with no water because no one remembered any, in 85 degrees, and at 3000 feet of elevation. The coaches and runners are in consensus that this summer, the runs have been far more difficult than ever before, and they hope it will pay off against the competition.

On August 29 the team held it’s annual two-mile time trial at Lake Sammamish State Park in order to evaluate the team just before the real season kicks of with the KingCo Preview on September 10th. Simon Sorensen ran away with the race as expected, finishing the course in 9:48. After running the first mile in 5:10, Simon dropped a 4:38 mile, a time which only one other member of the team, Travis Lund, ran faster than in track last season.

When asked for comment about Sorensen, former Spartan cross country great Matt Frerker, now running for the University of Portland, had nothing but praise for Skyline’s current top runner after offering a less-than-PG remark: “Simon’s drive and potential combined qualify him as an elite runner in the state of Washington, but even more importantly, he has fun doing it. It only takes a 10-mile run with him to realize both his effort and humor.”

Sorenson should be a top finisher at the KingCo meet, and should be in the running for a top place at the state meet as well, an asset that is invaluable to team success at the state level.

With Co-Captain Travis Lund absent from the time trial due to family events in Michigan and Utah, the second place which he held down for all of last year was up for grabs at the time trial, although he is sure to compete for it once he returns and the season begins. Stepping into Lund’s shoes was sophomore sensation Kyle Branch, one of the top freshmen in the state last year. Branch is a phenomenal talent, who is poised for a huge season after a summer of hard work and physical maturation. This is the runner who will likely lead the team once Sorensen and Lund graduate this year, and should be running at the collegiate level as well if he so desires.

After Branch, the next five runners came in within 10 seconds of each other, with the aforementioned Mark Frerker leading, followed closely by yours truly, Co-Captain Jeff Lestz, with junior Ben Ressler on my heels. Freshman Evan Botsch and junior Joey Chirillo battled it out in the final stretch, with Botsch just nipping Chirillo before the finish to round out the top group of finishers. The tight cluster of runners is indicative of the team’s incredible depth this season, which will be a huge advantage at big meets.

Other notable finishers included freshmen Drew Mathews and Brandon Clark, sophomore Ryan Rixon, and 4th year junior Jacob Moe-Lange, returning from Spain where he spent this past year in an exchange program. Three runners expected to contribute, sophomore Mitch O’Connell, senior Dallas Dyer, and freshman Michael Stewart, were unable to run due to injury, but will definitely compete for varsity slots over the course of the season.

Overall, the Skyline men’s cross country team is looking stronger than ever, and with highly productive summer training behind them and under their belts, these Spartans are primed to run down all competition in front of them.