By Gail Wood
James Edwards has three good reasons to be optimistic this season about his girls cross country team at Montesano High School.
The Montesano coach has three of his top runners returning off last year’s league championship team that qualified for state. Andrea Ostwald, the team’s #2 runner last year, returns for her senior year. Also back are Sydney Potter and Baylee Roble.
“The girls team is looking pretty strong,” said Edwards, who is beginning his seventh season as Montesano’s cross country coach. “We’re hoping for a strong year.”
Last year, Ostwald’s season to remember turned into one she’d rather forget when she injured her leg at district. But even without Ostwald, Montesano finished 11th at state. Ostwald is a quiet leader, someone who is willing to put in the miles to get better. Her coach never has to worry about whether she’s going to put in her miles.
“She’s a good, hard working runner,” Edwards said. “I’ve probably got to hold back on her. She’s looking for a good year.”
Ostwald recovered from her leg injury to qualify for state in track in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. She’s hungry for a good cross country season.
“She’s got good speed,” Edwards said. “She works hard.”
With a solid group of runners coming back off last year’s girls team, Edwards is hoping some of his younger runners can fill in the gaps to propel the team to state for another year.
On the boys team, Brandon Lovell is the top returner. He qualified for state as an individual last year as a junior. He’s hoping to qualify for state for the fourth time. As a freshman and sophomore, he qualified with the team and went as an individual last year.
Edwards said if the team doesn’t make it to the state meet this year, Lovell again has a good shot at qualifying.
“He’s a good runner,” Edwards said. “He keeps a good solid pace throughout the race.”
While Edwards coaches his runners to have a strong finish in a race, he doesn’t tell them to save it all for the end. He doesn’t want his runners to put the pedal to metal at the finish. Instead, he wants them to keep a steady pace throughout.
“If you can keep a steady pace throughout the race, you’re going to fair better than starting out fast and then die,” Edwards said. “If you can sprint the final 50, 100 meters at the end, you have way too much left in the tank.”
Last year, Edwards said his boys team struggled to have five runners compete each week. This year he’s expecting more depth.
To get the most out of his runners, Edwards stresses the team aspect of cross country. He reminds them that they’re not just running for themselves.
“There’s seven on a team in a varsity race,” Edwards said. “The fop five count. You say to yourself ‘I’ve got to run a good race today or my team is going to fail.’ It is a team sport. It is an individual sport, too. You’re striving to prove yourself. The better you do the better your team does.”
Edwards has a unique perspective as the Montesano coach. He ran cross country and track at Montesano, graduating in 1975. After high school, he then ran at Eastern Washington University as a walk-on.
“Then I got hooked on the running boom,” Edwards said. “Frank Shorter. Bill Shorter. They led the running boom.”
Now, Edwards encourages high schoolers to turn out for cross country. To help grab kids’ interest, Edwards included a meet at Western Oregon University this year. The meet is put on by Edwards’ college coach, Mike Johnson, who is now the head coach at Western Oregon.
“It can be tough getting kids to turn out,” Edwards said. “Football rules the roost. And for girls its soccer. It’s tough. But we do well.”
Another selling point Edwards uses to running is the camaraderie cross country offers. It’s a social sport, providing an opportunity to make friends.
“There is the camaraderie you have with teammates, plus with the other runners out there,” Edwards said. “Everyone knows what it feels like when you’re done.”
That common bond brings everyone together, whether you’re at a meet or at practice.
“It’s a great sport,” Edwards said.
