By Tom Rohrer
Cross country and long distance running is considered by many to be an individual sport.
However, two Olympia High School runners are looking for team success along with individual victories in 2012.
In 2011, Olympia sent two runners to the WIAA 4A state championship, as Peter Kesting (then a freshman) and Sofia Kane (a sophomore) took home 50th and 13th within the state respectively.
Now a year older, the two runners have their sights set on a bigger prize, both as individuals and for the entire Bears team.
“This year has been going well and I’ve trained hard to make improvements individually,” said Kane, now a junior. “But part of the equation is the team aspect, and I think if we all work hard and push ourselves, we have a great chance to make an impact.”
“Individually, I want to keep pushing myself harder on workouts and keep running and try not to take weekends off,” Kesting said. “The team is doing much better than we predicted. Hopefully we finish in the top four in state and move onto regionals.”
After taking second or third in a variety of meets her freshmen year, Kane saw significant improvement in 2011, placing first in two meets, second in two more, and finishing 13th overall in 5,000 meters at the WIAA 4A state championship with a time of 18:47.7. This season alone, Kane already has taken first in a meet with Gig Harbor, Yelm Mt. Tahoma in the 5,000 meters, and was the winner in the 2.23 mile race at the Capital Invite earlier this month with a time of 13:55.58
Kesting has a similar resume to Kane’s. As a freshmen, he took home a victory apiece in a 3,500 and 5,000 meter race, before his finish at the state championship. This year, Kesting has a victory in a two mile event, had the top overall meet time in the 2.23 mile at the Capital Invite on Sept. 8, and also ran home with a victory in the 5,000 meters in Olympia’s first home meet with a time of 16:01.
Both runners credit their coaches and teammates as an integral part of their success.
“The coaches are very helpful and the other day I was thinking how weird it would be to have a coach not running with you,” Kesting said. “It helps everyone on the team realize how they should train and where they should meet. Our team is very talented, and it’s huge to have guys push you to train every day. If you push each other as a team, you can help your teammates and vice versa.”
“Coach (Cris) Violet, he’s been a really good coach. I’m thankful I’ve been able to improve every season. He’s helped me through the challenges and it’s been a really fun experience. Coach Jenny (Stevick, the wife of boys cross country coach Jesse), she does a lot of my workouts with me and she is really inspiring, one of the most inspirational people I know. She’s always positive and always has a good outlook and that helps me really enjoy running. It’s really helpful to have a strong team. We’re all really good friends and there is just a great feeling of support. I don’t think individually each of us would improve as much without the team.”
Both Kane and Kesting have high individual expectations for themselves as well
“I’d like to be on the podium at state, in the top six,” Kane said. “Time wise, I want to improve my (personal record). I was on the podium at state last year, and that was really unforgettable and it would be awesome to be in that position again.”
This year, hopefully I can finish in the top eight at state,” said Kesting, who also went to state in the two mile race in track last year. “In track, I’m hoping for the school mile record. I think if I work hard enough and keep getting pushed by my teammates, it’s a feasible goal.”
Tomorrow, on Saturday Sept. 29, Kesting and the rest of the OHS boy’s varsity cross country team will travel to Palo Alto, Calif., on the campus of Stanford University for the Stanford Cross Country Invitational. Teams from across the nation will participate in the meet, along with some Washington State schools that Kesting is eager to go against.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long, long time. Over a year probably, since our team usually goes every other year,” Kesting said. “Jackson High School, Lewis and Clark High School will be there. We want to beat them as a team to reassure ourselves to get top four in state. It will be a great opportunity to run on a big stage for us and see how we stack up against the best.”
