Huddle up: Cross country programs consistently strong

Marques Hunter

Huddle up

Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools have exceptional cross country programs. The quality of talent starts at the top and works its way down to the incoming freshmen from the surrounding middle schools.

I didn’t realize the profound impact tradition has at the high school level. Gig Harbor senior Conner Peloquin enlightened me on why he thinks the Tides are able to remain an elite team.

It starts with tradition and ends with higher expectations than most other teams.

“That’s the kind of environment we’ve chosen to create,” Peloquin said. “(Coach) Patty (Ley) sets the standard, but the athletes who have preceded me, I’ve felt their influence.”

Talent follows good coaching. Gig Harbor head coach Patty Ley and Peninsula’s Joel Wingard have a belief system.

It’s actually quite simple: Buy into our system, and it will get you there. If you train during the offseason, your body will build up an incredible amount of endurance, instead of expecting to flip a switch in the fall season and convince your body to compete for an individual or state championship.

If you still don’t believe, look at their resumes. They attract students by way of the program’s traditional success.

State champions are made in the offseason. They are won when a particular athlete decides to put in the extra work months before the season begins.

Gig Harbor sophomore Maureen Tremblay won the Class 4A West Central District meet last week. She’s vaulted into the team’s No. 1 slot and could very likely place in the top 10 at state. And after she PR’d at the Narrows League meet, she said her summer training had a lot to do with her improved times.

Distance runners and athletes who have absolutely nothing left when the competition is over deserve a ton of respect. Whenever I interview them after an exhausting performance, they barely have enough air in their lungs to breathe, much less answer questions.

Cross country is an interesting sport because it trains the body to endure a long period of cardiovascular activity rather than training the eye to react.

The Gig Harbor boys and girls teams each won district championships last week at American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood. It was the girls’ fifth straight and the boys’ second in three years.

That’s hard to believe.

To have an entire class compete at a very high level is one thing. But to turn around and have the next class of student-athletes continue the winning tradition speaks to the program’s influence on the incoming talent.

Similarly, the Peninsula boys took home a first-place plaque and the girls placed third.

Cross country falls under that category of total-body exertion. It reminds me of swimming, because there’s nobody else to rely on, yet each competitor’s placement factors into the team score.

Many of the Gig Harbor and Peninsula high school athletes have extended their season this fall, but the cross country runners will once again make the biggest impact at the state level.