Pack mentality
<p>The Coeur d'Alene High varsity cross country team is in a position to earn their school its best state showing in school history. From left, Cody Curtis, David Norris, Ben Woolley, Alex Troxel, Kenneth Colbert, Mike Dunton, Kyle Cummings and Andrew Regan.</p>
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
hey’re young, hungry and enjoy running in packs.
But this group of Coeur d’Alene High runners isn’t settling for just showing up to the state 5A cross country meet this week in Soda Springs to gain experience — they’re looking to make some history in the process.
Coeur d’Alene enters this week ranked second in the idahoxc.com polls, winning the Region 1 meet by 42 points last Thursday at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston.
“We’ve been a strong team from the get-go,” sophomore Michael Dunton said. “We’ve had to battle through some injuries, but hopefully we’ll be 100 percent by state.”
Coeur d’Alene takes aim at its first state boys cross country championship Saturday at Kelly Park.
The Vikings, who have eight different varsity-capable runners ranging from freshman to the senior class, had seven of the top 10 finishers in last week’s 5A Region 1 meet.
“It’s really cool to have the depth of a team to step up when you’re missing a guy,” Coeur d’Alene coach Cathy Compton said. “Our JV guys are fighting just as hard as the varsity guys.”
“This year has brought on some new experiences,” senior Alex Troxel said. “We’re pretty excited about that. It’s been a strong season and we’re hoping that it finishes well.”
While his last name is familiar, Troxel is no relation to Van Troxel, football coach at rival Lake City High.
“If it was football, I’d probably hear a little more about it,” Troxel said. “But the cross country team has been really good about it. They could be a lot worse.”
Coeur d’Alene has won team titles at the Farragut/Super 1 Foods Invitational and Sandpoint Invitational, as well as second-place finishes at the West Valley Invitational and Tracy Walters Invitational and a sixth-place finish at the Sunfair Invitational in Yakima.
“We’ve had some good timing,” Dunton said. “We’ve got some determination while running during the offseason. We’re better than ever before.
“This is probably the most people we’ve had show up for offseason workouts,” senior David Norris said. “It’s been growing throughout the summer.”
Coeur d’Alene finished second last season at the state meet at Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley.
“It really felt like any other meet because we didn’t have to travel as far,” Norris said. “It was a lot less exciting.”
Norris also looks to improve on a third-place finish in 2009.
“It was really unexpected,” Norris said. “We’ll see if I can get there again this year. I definitely wasn’t expecting it last year. The only place I can aim for is to be the medalist.”
Eagle is ranked ahead of Coeur d’Alene in the idahoxc.com polls.
“We’ve seen Eagle at Sunfair, so we know what we’ll have to do against them,” Andrew Regan said. “We’ll definitely need to keep an eye on what Eagle is doing.”
Eagle finished third, Mountain View fourth last year at state.
Norris’ freshman year at Kellogg High might have changed his life forever.
While playing in a JV football game his freshman season, Norris injured his right shoulder and was unable to finish that year for the Wildcats. Norris, who could still run, joined the Wildcat cross country team and qualified for the state 3A meet, finishing 15th.
Later that year, he transfered to Coeur d’Alene.
“Had I not gotten hurt, there’s no way I’m running cross country right now,” said Norris, ranked third among 5A boys on idahoxc.com. “Running has helped me in every possible way. It’s really opened so many doors for me.”
The Vikings are also counting on junior Cody Curtis, who has been out with injuries.
“My calves are hurting right now,” Curtis said. “But I’ve usually been there each year for the state meet. I’ve somehow performed well at state and I’ll try to do my best to do the same this year.”
Curtis sat out the Region 1 meet, but is expected back this week for the state meet.
“We’ve had a lot of ups-and-downs this season with injuries,” Compton said. “They’ve always been supportive of him. They are a bunch of very cool guys. They really do all the work, us coaches just guide them.”
Coeur d’Alene also holds team dinners throughout the year, usually the night before a meet at a team member’s house.
“Everyone shows up,” Dunton said. “It’s usually to help carbo-load. It has really helped build our team camaraderie.”
“It’s a social thing,” Norris said. “We’ve kind of formed a bond through practicing and these get-togethers. We’ve had our fair share of goofing off and working hard.”
Coeur d’Alene only loses two seniors in Norris and Troxel, with the bulk of the squad back for another run at a state trophy next year.
“It would be huge,” Troxel said. “We’ve never won state before, so we’d like to make some history for North Idaho and make it our legacy at the school.”