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| | True cross country fans know our sport is more of a team event than most outsiders realize, yet there are plenty of individual standouts as well. So, while honoring the tradition we have started at DyeStat with Interval Sessions, which introduced you to the top individuals in both track and XC, we launch Fall 2009 with "Star Squad Spotlight," giving you a chance to get to know not just the top individual runners in the country, but also the best teams.
| | | squad | henry jackson wa boys
10.15.09
by Dave Devine, DyeStat Senior Editor
 When talk turns to great boys cross country squads from the talent-rich state of Washington, the focus tends to shift toward the storied region around Spokane. While there's no doubt the lion's share of all-timer teams from the Evergreen State have hailed from that singular eastern Washington city-- indeed two nationally-ranked boys teams this year (Ferris and North Central) call Spokane home--the boys from Henry Jackson HS in Mill Creek, north of Seattle, are the latest squad attempting to shift the conversation westward. A young and loaded Jackson team was second to Mead at the 2008 Washington 4A state meet, after entering as favorites, and that loss has done nothing but motivate the returners in 2009. Currently parked at #5 on the DyeStat Elite ESPN RISE FAB 50, and #1 in the Northwest, the Timberwolves are known for tight pack running with no standout individual star. They're coming off a big win at the Sunfair Invite, and head to Portland this weekend to do battle with the top teams in Oregon.
DyeStat Senior editor Dave Devine caught up with Coach Eric Hruschka and his senior co-captains, #1 man Mitchell Briggs and #4 man Connor Frederickson, in the days leading up to their Northwest showdown at the Puma Concordia XC Classic.
 Seems like it's been a good year so far for the Henry Jackson boys, with expectations high entering the season and a series of performances which have only confirmed your place among the top programs in the country. Can you talk a little about how you prepare a team for a season like this, where they're heading in ranked highly in the nation? What do you do, as a coach, to keep the team grounded and focused, and what have you learned over the years about rankings versus reality?
Coach Eric Hruschka (right): We were excited about the 2009 XC season but did not do a lot different from previous seasons. We have a preseason meeting 2 weeks after State track and discuss the upcoming season and set some general goals. We discuss possible invitationals and what it will take to travel to the dream invites as well as summer training to meet the team goals. After last year’s disappointing State finish, the guys did not want to spend all summer fundraising to go to ‘fun’ invitationals, and focused on getting in the base training needed to stay competitive through November. As far as polls- they are fun and bring recognition, but they are hypothetical and we found that out last year at state after being ranked #1 in WA for most of the season and getting 2nd at State to Mead.
At the beginning of the season, your team and perennial Oregon power Jesuit High engaged in a jamboree-style off-distance race with a few other teams. What was the impetus for that? Did you and Coach Rothenberger just kind of decide to bring these two talented groups together for a fun early-season fitness check? Were there outcomes besides the racing you were hoping to achieve?
Coach Hruschka: Our season opener ‘jamboree’ just kind of fell into place by luck. Coach Rothenberger and I have become good friends over the years and he called me on our way to the Prefontaine meet (we bring 15-20 guys down each summer). He had just found out Jesuit HS football team was going to play in the ‘kickoff classic’ at Seahawks stadium and he thought he could get a bus to come up and watch the football game. They left early in the morning, raced at our place, and then headed down to the afternoon game in Seattle. We picked an off distance to let the kids get some competition in, but still keep it low key. Auburn Riverside joined us at the last minute (Tuesday of that week because their jamboree was cancelled) and suddenly our fun time trial run became a full meet with some great runners. All teams ran 1.5 miles for the race and then went and worked out with their teams on the course doing different things (hills, tempos, intervals…etc) The kids hung around and chatted up the upcoming season with all the dreams and hopes still ahead of them.
 You guys are just coming off a great win at the Sunfair Invite, which is an interesting meet with it's flighted format. Since your team is sort of known for the strength of it's pack, was it hard to split up that top seven and know you were hanging it out there by yourself with the team's fortunes riding individually on each person? What was it like watching each guy race separately, knowing everyone had to do their part?
Connor Frederickson: You’re right that it was definitely different racing by ourselves, but we also know that we are a very deep team. Our race was planned out in our heads before the gun even went off, so the only thing that we runners had to do was execute the plan. We ran our race, and we ended up doing very well. The coaches gave us great mental preparation, and we just had to focus on staying with the runners around us. For those of us that ended up having a large lead in our flights, it was difficult to push for a good time, but we're just happy to come away with the victory.
Mitchell Briggs (left, at Sunfair): It was different to watch each of the flights and see my own teammates compete. I have run with many of the varsity guys almost every day and seeing them actually compete on their own was a very exciting experience. The day before and throughout the meet it was a strange feeling knowing that a potential mess up could cause more pressure on other flights. I knew all the guys were ready to run hard and run to win. Saturday’s we have told the JV guys that you set the tone, and how we start as a team is how we end as a team. At Sunfair the freshman through senior class races set a very good tone for the day.
It's no secret in Washington that the East side of the state has won the large school division of the state cross country meet for the last 21 years. It certainly doesn't get any easier this year, with Ferris having been as highly ranked as your team in many polls, but have the guys on the team talked about it being time to bring the title west? Is there a sense-- even if it's good-natured--of there being somewhat of a Westside/Eastside rivalry when it comes to the state of Washington, and how much does that motivate your team?
Briggs: There has definitely been talk about bringing the title back to the west side. It was our focus last year to win state but we fell short by 8 points to Mead. That certainly has motivated us, to be so close and lose. We know that all 7 of us need great races at state to achieve our goal. Many Westside teams have been close and we are lucky to have a second chance. I hope we learn how we lost it and what to fix. Ferris is a very good team and we do not doubt they will be up there at the state meet. There kind of is a Westside/Eastside rivalry. The rivalry does motivate us more, knowing that we are trying to break a 21- or 22 year old record. It would be awesome to be the first team to actually break the barrier.
On the flipside, I know there's also a sense of Washington pride, which I've seen on display at events like BorderClash and elsewhere, and I'm wondering how much of an inspiration your team took from the NXN win by the North Central guys last year? No team from west of the Mississippi River had ever won NXN, and those guys brought it home for the Evergreen state. Did your team sort of look at that victory, and think, "If North Central can do it..."
Frederickson: Coach Hruschka has posted the chapters of the book that Leon Dean wrote last year about the team's national title run. It is a great story, and he has us read it to see the parallels with the training style and traditions that they share. It's true, a lot of what they do is the same as what we do, but we try to just focus on us and take it one meet at a time. It's certainly a goal for the future.
Briggs: North Central was a great inspiration to us. We were able to witness a team that we competed against win a national title. I certainly learned a lot and actually competing against them was an experience that I will remember. At the time I do not think many of us thought we could be in that same situation, a year later, after already running a tough xc season. But our main focus right now is state. We are not really worried or talking much about NXN; most of our focus is on winning state.
 I know one of the things your team did in preparation for the 2009 season was spend a week at the SPU Falcon Running Camp on Whidbey Island. Can you talk in general about the place summer camp plays in the summer training build up, and maybe specifically about what this year's camp brought out and showed in your team? Is camp where you start to look for guys to step up and show some leadership? Do you feel like some bonding takes place there which leads into the season?
Coach Hruschka: I think most top programs do their own camp or attend a XC camp together. We are really lucky to have 3 great XC camps in WA for HS kids. We love to go to Whidbey Island and attend the SPU Falcon camp. The running is beautiful, temperatures are perfect and they always have great guest speakers. I like for our team to go to camp and learn many of the same things we have been trying to teach. They hear the same messages and maybe when a college coach or past Olympian tells them, it will finally sink in. The camp also allows for the teams to stay together and allow for important team bonding to take place. I like to give my captains space to step up and lead while there. This summer they had a team meeting, discussed our goals and focus on the State meet. They also consider challenges or road blocks ahead and how we will overcome them. Again, this meeting is without coaches and led by captains and seniors. This summer I saw group of guys that trained hard all week and did not get too high or low and maintained a more balanced effort level. Interesting note is we are seeing the same characteristics this fall.
Coach, there's a quote in your Bio on the team's website where you say, "I try to make running Track and Cross Country fun but always look for ways to teach the athletes in our program the life lessons I learned while participating in sports." What were some of those lessons, and what are some of the ways you impart them to the young men running for Jackson?
Coach Hruschka: Running XC and track needs to be fun. We try and mix things up and keep things loose. We usually have a game day built into the weekly schedule when we are not traveling. We do scavenger hunts, take the team to the corn mazes and have swimming days. We do team dinners and fun gatherings/parties. That being said, one of the things I try and teach kids is the value of hard work, commitment and dedication. All are cornerstones of our program. When we travel they have to dress up for dinner (no jeans, and dress shirt with ties). This sets a higher level of expectation regarding behavior and the task at hand. Some day many of them will hold jobs that require travel. If they can travel, find some leisure time to have fun and see the sites, but still take care of business they will be very successful in life. One of the best lessons my high school coach taught me was following through with something if you give someone your word. ‘Look them in the eye, give them a proper handshake and go do what you promised them you would do.’ I expect the same from every one of our student athletes.
 You had a very good cross country team last year, but it seems like it was the track PR's from last spring which really caught people's attention, given the number of returners you were bringing back under 4:30 for 1600 and 10:00 for 3200. Was there a point at which it started to dawn on the underclassmen that you could really do something special this season?
Frederickson (#713 at left): At Falcon Running Camp, our team found a place to be alone to have a meeting with no coaches, just us runners. We talked about the last two seasons and what was in store for this season. We set goals, and we let everyone speak on how they felt about the team and what we could accomplish this year. That night was really the spark in what got our inspiration going. We have been waiting for this season since the day after state last year, so we're really excited about it. Now we just have to keep our heads on straight and keep doing what we do to translate into further success.
Briggs: The tail end of track was when we saw our potential for XC. We went into conference and districts and all had some big pr’s and saw the depth and talent we had for the season to come. It was a great boost to get us excited for the summer of training, having ten guys at 4:30 or under, and seven guys coming back. The 2 mile was very deep which also made the summer training that much more exciting, but also difficult. The training was hard, and the battle to become varsity and who could prove they deserved the spot on the team was challenging.
Can you share some of the training specifics which are the backbone of the Timberwolves season? Do you have specific approaches to mileage volume, individualizing workouts, prepping for competition, rest and recovery...that sort of thing?
Coach Hruschka: We have not changed a lot for this season as far as training goes. We did set up our invite schedule to go every other week (maybe a little college-like). We use a hard-easy principal and don’t train for specific goal volumes regarding weekly mileage. The training plan is in place before the season starts and Coach Pat Haller and I tweak it weekly based on the level of fitness we see or any red flags that arise like sickness or injury. We do hills and longer time intervals early and speed things up after the midpoint of the season. We try and do simulation workouts for the next goal race (Ex; hills before Sunfair). As far as individualizing, we group kids daily into 3-4 options based on their ability and experience (easy-medium hard- elite). This gives us some options for moving top kids down when they are fatigued or sick and keeps the rest of the varsity moving forward. Part of it is a management issue with 55-60 boys out daily, and the other thing is it gives us options for the good new runner to challenge themselves for a day or two and then take a step back if they overdid it. As far as prepping for big races, we like to study the map before we travel, jog the course and then do some visualization stuff either at the course or hotel.
Are there any "Timberwolves traditions" your team carries on from year to year, or special pre-race rituals or routines you follow as a group?
Frederickson: There aren't really any traditions that we follow, but we always have everyone huddle up and scream Jackson! as loud as we can, just for intimidation. We know that other teams are looking at us.
Photos: Coach Hruschka, Henry Jackson HS website; Sunfair and WA State Meet photos - James Thomas, sunfairrun.com | |
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