Cross country starts the season strong in Seattle

Summer is gone, a new cross country season has begun — and several MHCC runners have already shattered their personal best times.

The team has lost Tahir Chakisso, who won the 2010 Southern Region title, but that did not dampen the spirits and expectations of head coach Matt Hart or his athletes at the Sundodger Invitational Sept. 17 at the University of Washington, their first meet of the season.

The top five finishers on the men’s side for the 8K race were sophomores Chris Newell, (26:40), Jonathan Butcher (26:55) and Donnie Coulson (27:45), and freshmen Kyle Williams (29:10) and Robert Hanke (32:24).

“On the men’s side, we have Jonathan Butcher and Chris Newell who did not run sub-28 (minutes) all of last year but did at the meet,” said Hart, even though the team is not at full strength, with some athletes sitting out due to injuries.

The women’s side competed in the 6K race, with sophomore Gabriella Diaz finishing first on the team with a time of 24:11. She was followed by freshman Christa Collmer (24:40), sophomore Jennifer Tina (26:07) and sophomore Andrea Baseda (27:53).

Though Hart was content with the women’s performance, he said their success suffered because some runners did not report to practice as early as others, and therefore weren’t in the best shape they could have been.

Newcomer Kyle Williams, though not displeased with his results, was determined to topple his first time.  “I didn’t do as well as I wanted but it was the first meet and my first 8K so I can’t complain,” he said.

The team’s early success can be attributed to the work and preparation the team put in over the summer.

“We have some core individuals who trained hard this summer,” Hart said, adding that their men’s squad was particularly dedicated. “We already are much better (than last year) and it’s because our young guys grew up from last year.”

As for his projections for the season, Hart was optimistic. “I think our team is going to be a lot stronger overall. All of our cores guys are going to be in the higher part of the pack,” he said.

“We don’t have a huge (men’s) team, but the guys we’ve got are good,” he added.

“On the women’s side, we’ve got Gabriela Diaz back and we got a young freshman, Christa Collmer, hanging with Gabi,” he said.

Asked whether he thinks his team can build on last week’s success at the next meet, Hart said the whole team has a shot at taking it to that next level, after having worked out the kinks the opener.

Next up for the cross country team is the Charles Bowles Invitational Oct. 1 at Willamette University in Salem.