SHS cross country 2015 season preview
Head coach: Harold Huff (15th season)
2014 record: Boys — 8-0 in Olympic League (champions); 1st at districts; 2nd at state 2A meet. Girls — 7-1 in Olympic League (second place); 7th at districts; 1 athlete to state 2A meet (Shreffler, 33rd)
Top returners: Boys — Brendon Despain (sr.), C.J. Daniels (sr.), Chris Jeffko (sr.), Jackson Oliver (sr.), Christian Ash (sr.), Wendall Lorenzen (sr.), Andrew Hansted (so.), Evan Chatters (jr.), Hayden Crane (jr.), Bryce Dryke (sr.), Zachary Wakefield (sr.). Girls — Waverly Shreffler (sr.), Emily Webb (sr.), Audrey Shingleton (sr.), Noelle Bittner (so.), Alexis Cromer (sr.), Elizabeth Rosales (jr.), Mia Steben (sr.), Telicia Busby (so.)
Key newcomers: Boys — Brenton Dryke (fr.), Ash Francis (fr.), Christian Goodrich (jr.), Conner Martin (fr.). Girls — Tehnaya Busby (jr.), Ali Cobb (jr.), Jordan Miller (sr.), Kiara Pierson (so.)
by MICHAEL DASHIELL
Sequim Gazette
Call it a golden age for Sequim’s cross country squads.
With SHS’s boys coming off a second-place finish at the state 2A meet — their best outing in school history — and a girls’ squad that returns the majority of the squad that was on the verge of a team state berth in 2014, Sequim coach Harold Huff likes what he sees early on in the preseason.
“They all came in, in pretty good shape,” Huff said. “They’re all good kids (and are) working their butts off.”
The Wolves lose senior stalwarts Mikey Cobb and Peter Ohnstad, who raced in three state meets apiece, to graduation, but bring back most of the pieces of last year’s dominant squad.
C.J. Daniels, Chris Jeffko and Jackson Oliver look to put the Wolves into state for a fourth consecutive season while senior Brendon Despain, who’s seeking his third state appearance, leads the bunch.
“Brendon’s going to be a monster this year,” SHS assistant coach Michael Cobb said.
Vying for fifth, sixth and seventh spots are returnees Wendall Lorenzen, Andrew Hansted and Evan Chatters plus promising freshman Christian Ash, pushed by seven newcomers to the roster.
“We’re going to have a strong JV team this year, too,” Huff said.
Sequim’s boys swept Olympic League and West Central District titles, with the Wolves taking second behind perennial title contender Sehome and Liberty-Issaquah a distant third.
Huff, last year’s Olympic League’s boys team’s Coach of the Year, likes his team’s chances to battle Sehome once again for a top spot.
“If the top five guys stay healthy, we’ve got a shot at this,” Huff said.
On the girls’ side, state qualifier Waverly Shreffler, along with Audrey Shingleton and Emily Webb, are back to lead a team that placed second in league and seventh at districts.
“They’re going to be a bubble team for making it to state,” Huff said.
Shreffler and Webb earned all-league honors after placing in the top 10 at league while Shingleton was 11th, just missing all-league status.
“Audrey is in the best shape she’s been in, in two years,” Huff said.
But the Sequim coach acknowledged Sequim’s girls will have to be more than a handful of good runners to earn a spot at state.
“We’ve got to get some of them to step up,” Huff said.
