By Gail Wood
As coach of the Montesano High School’s cross country team, James Edwards’ recipe for improvement is simple.
“I tell the kids, all the time, if you want to go to the next level you have to put in the time,” Edwards said before a recent practice. “It doesn’t happen magically.”
Running hard in practice equals faster times in meets.
“The clock doesn’t lie,” Edwards said.
Neither do aching lungs. Just ask Jake Mustard, a junior and Montesano’s top runner. At the recent Montesano Invite, Mustard ignored his aching lungs and cut nearly 40 seconds off his personal best, finishing the 3.1-mile run in 17:29 seconds and placing third. To go faster, Mustard, following the instructions of his coach, fought the urge to go out too fast. Going out too fast usually means burn out, tiring near the finish and slowing down.
“I wanted to pace myself,” Mustard said. “What I did was follow the second place runner and kept up with him.”
It’s like sitting next to the smartest student in class during a test – just do as they do.
“I just stayed with him,” Mustard said.
What impresses Edwards about his boys team, which got off to a 4-1 start in dual meets, is their depth. Usually finishing 10 or 15 seconds behind Mustard is Logan Clements. Kyle Cox and Conner Parkinson aren’t too far behind him.
“They’re all working good as a team,” Edwards said. “All of them are really close time wise. That’s what we’re working on. We really don’t have an ace standout. We have a good solid team.”
This is a senior-less team. Edwards is a junior and is in his third year of cross country. He never turned out for sports until eighth grade when he started to run track and cross country. Last year as a sophomore, Mustard qualified for state for the first time but didn’t race well because of cramps.
“I finished,” Mustard said. “But I didn’t run well. I hope to do better this year.”
At a recent practice, Edwards had his team run timed half miles as part of their interval workout. During the season, they progress in their interval workouts from 400 yards to 600 yards to 800 yards and finally to 1,000 yards. He shouted out their times as they did a quarter mile lap and again as they finished the last lap. Their goal was to finish faster than last time. To do that, they have to be able to endure a quicker pace.
“The first objective is pain tolerance,” Edwards said. “Putting in the extra miles, working hard on the intervals and pushing yourselves. And when you’re tired pushing through that pain. That’s what it takes.”
Edwards knows what he’s talking about. In addition to being a longtime coach – this is his eighth season as the Bulldogs head cross country coach – he also ran at Montesano High School back in the mid 1970s. He then walked on at Eastern Washington University and ran there, too.
Edwards is impressed with his team’s work ethic. The team runs between 30 and 40 miles a week. Even though he’s got a young team, Edwards doesn’t change his approach. It’s still a matter of putting in the miles.
“You’ve basically got to pull the reigns in when you first get them,” Edwards said. “I don’t want to be a babysitter out here. If you’re going to come out here, you’re going to come out and work hard and get something out of it. That’s what running is about. It’s you and time.”
Bailey Roble, a junior and the top runner on the girls team, knows about “paying the price.” She runs throughout the year, running on her own during the summer and winter, doing 40 to 50 miles a week. In the spring, she runs distance events in track. She’s run the 800 in 2:27.
“I run 24-7,” Roble said.
Roble reached state as a freshman and as a sophomore, placing 25th last year and 21st two years ago. Because of running, she’s learned how to push herself whenever she’s working on a project, whether it’s in sports or in school work.
“You learn how to push yourself through the pain and how to overcome that pain and mental toughness,” Roble said.
After having nine on the girls team last year, the Bulldogs have only three girls turning out this year. Madelyn Prall is the Bulldog’s No. 2 runner. Roble sees a good-bad side to the small turnout.
“I miss the team aspect, but then again I like just having the three of us,” Roble said. “We get to know each other better. We’ve turned into good friends.”
They do things together.
“With nine girls it’s harder to do that,” Roble said. “But I do miss the team aspect though.”
Prall, a sophomore, looks up to Roble. That’s because Roble is the fastest on the team and Prall is only 4-foot-11, nearly nine inches shorter than Roble. To compensate, Prall increases her RPMs. She has that mental toughness to meet the challenge.
“I like the way cross country challenges us mentally and physically,” Prall said. “We really have to push ourselves.”
