THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Having some fun before the run

Hand it to cross country coaches and athletes.

They almost have to be ready for anything at times.

Bad weather at state.

Unbearable days at the start of the season.

Give them credit though, they sure look like they’re having fun doing it.

THE ENJOYMENT on the faces of the Coeur d’Alene High boys as they were about to come across the finish line at regionals last October was something that might not be soon forgotten.

As the team approached the finish, it could have been any one one of them that finished first on that day. In cross country, if the team qualifies — only the first five individual scores are counted — then seven advance to state.

Coeur d’Alene posted a perfect team score on that day — 15, for those who are counting — with each of its seven athletes finishing in the top seven, within 3 seconds of each other.

Of note, if that happens again this year at the — now — 6A regional meet between Coeur d’Alene, Lake City and Post Falls with Lewiston moving to 5A, only the top seven runners advance to state. Only the top team advances to state.

State this year is at Eagle Island State Park on Saturday, Nov. 2.

To prepare for what the state meet might look like, teams have opted to challenge themselves in some meets that are outside of the local area this fall.

Post Falls will compete in the Three-Course Challenge in Seaside, Ore., in October.

“My wife Allison (Post Falls assistant coach) and I went to college in Oregon and know a lot of people that are connected to the sport in Oregon,” Ryan Booth said. “It’s more of a fun meet and they’ve got three different courses with different lengths that they run on. It’s really designed for teams to travel and have fun together.”

Teams stay at Camp Rilea, an Armed Forces Training Center in Warrenton, Ore., during the trip.

“We stay in the barracks overnight and the meet director does a spaghetti feed on Friday, then a pancake breakfast before the race,” Ryan Booth said. “They also have a T-shirt swap, so it’s a good way to travel and meet some people and compete against some people we don’t normally get a chance to compete against.”

Coeur d’Alene, under new coach Emry Carr, will get to the fun stuff eventually.

“We get after it in practice right away,” said Carr, who took over the boys and girls program after the retirement of Cathy Compton after 32 years with the program. “We had a high-tempo workout on the first day and it was down to business. But it seems like early on the kids are having fun with each other.”

That fun stuff will be over the coming weekend.

“We’ve got about 50 kids that are going to an athlete-led campout this weekend,” Carr said. “They’ll go up on the river, hang out and spend some quality time together before the season gets going.”

OFTEN TIMES, if kids are out running around midnight, there’s trouble involved.

At least where I grew up.

Maybe not so much anymore, right?

The first night of Timberlake practice, the team started doing the ‘Midnight Mile’ where coach Shawn Lawler turns on the lights on the football field and the team completes a mile on the track.

“It’s something that we’ve done for a few years,” Lawler said. “The kids get really excited about it and it’s a lot of fun for them. We do some stuff inside the school like have a team dinner and meeting with the parents, then go outside.”

Sometimes, more than just the team shows up.

“The first year, I forgot to call the Spirit Lake Police Department to tell them we were doing this,” Lawler said. “They got a report that the lights were on at the field and came to check it out.”

This year, some alumni showed up to take part in the event.

“Jacob (Barnhardt, who won the state 3A individual title in 2022), texted me and told me he was coming and going to run with the team,” Lawler said. “He showed up at 11:45 and everyone was excited to see him. He was kind of like a rock star, but these guys really enjoy being around each other. So it was great to see that.”

Prep sports are back in bulk starting soon.

And for some of us, that’s just great news.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.