The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Coach Joanna Lanning admits that her initial expecta­tions for the WP boys' cross-country team where relatively low, especially as compared to last years' successful season.

Of the five runners -- the bare minimum required to qualify as a team -- only E.J. Meserve was a seasoned runner, and he had yet to run to his potential. Meserve is joined by junior Tyler Shafer, who has never before competed in X-C and three freshmen: Kyle Gradwohl, Jared Farley and Sky­lar Wood.

"Out of those five, our senior was the only athlete who put in the miles re­quired over the summer," said Lanning. "Summer miles are vital to be competi­tive and reach your full potential. It's like money in the bank."

With a few meets under their belt, Lanning now hopes to see the team place high enough at District to ad­vance to the State meet. Lanning notes that District 9 is very competitive, with Tri-Cities Prep winning the State Championship for the last three years. Asotin is also running extremely well this season and has the number one boys' runner in the state.

"The good news is that the boys have taken their training very seriously, are working very hard, and when they race, they understand the importance of packing (team members running to­gether), which helps their teams' place­ment in a meet," said Lanning.

"EJ Meserve is doing tremendously well," she continued. "He put in a good summer of uninterrupted training -- his best yet -- and he's found his stride. He is running faster and stronger in every race. He's grown mentally tougher, too, which is huge in our sport.

"Emily Adams, our lone girl, is a freshman, but has been competing since the seventh grade. She has expe­rienced some setbacks this season, with illness and a minor injury, so I'm look­ing for her to compete hard this second half of the season. She should do very well at District and I expect her to be a competitor at the State meet.

"Tyler Shafer, a junior, keeps im­proving and I hope he can stick like glue to the freshmen at the District meet.

"The three freshmen, Kyle Grad­wohl, Skylar Wood and Jared Farley really understand the packing concept and have put it into play at every meet. They are running better every day. How close these four can finish behind EJ at the District meet will determine wheth­er or not the team advances to State."

The District meet will take place on November 2 in Spokane, and is a combined District 7/9 meet. The top six boys' teams will advance to state, along with the top 30 finishers. Currently, Meserve stands seventh in District 9 and 21st for the State, and Gradwohl is 28th in District 9. On the girls' side, Ad­ams holds the fifth spot in the District and is 13th in the State. The State meet will be held November 9 in Pasco.