ERIC D. WILLIAMS; The News Tribune
Published: September 28th, 2006 01:00 AM
For Kesslee Payne, the journey is as important as the result.
The senior distance runner is the leader of the Gig Harbor High School girls cross country team, which is focused on repeating as state champion.
"I want to see how far my body can go," Payne said. "I'm always surprised at how much farther my body can go every single time. It creates those PRs (personal records), and creates those faster times."
In a sport where an athlete competes against other runners and the clock, few would think there would be many unifying characteristics.
But Gig Harbor's boys and girls cross country teams have used a team-first mentality as a formula for success.
The "Gig Girls" – a motto that Gig Harbor girls runners have printed on black T-shirts – are the Class 4A state defending champions.
The boys team's not too shabby, either, garnering a top-10 finish at state last year.
Three of the top four runners are back for the girls, including top runner Payne, Amanda Andrews and Anna Kelbrenner.
So far, the girls team has gotten off to an impressive start, winning the Capital Invitational in Olympia, Port Angeles' Salt Creek Invitational and the Bob Firman Invitational in Boise during September.
Gig Harbor is the top-rated team in the state, ranked 13th nationally.
"We all push each other to work harder in practices and in races," said Andrews, the No. 2 girls runner. "We're all like best friends. We're like sisters because we're so close. We root for each other, and we just give each other motivation to go faster."
Payne led Gig Harbor with an eighth-place individual finish last year in the state meet at Pasco. She won the Salt Creek Invitational, finished second in the Capital Invite and was third at the Bob Firman Invitational.
The senior expects to improve on last year's performance at state this season.
Said Gig Harbor coach Patty Ley of Payne: "She's done some phenomenal work in the last year, particularly this summer to get ready. And she's still kind of making that transition from being a No. 2 (runner) to a No. 1. So there's little things about racing that kind of frustrate her, but she's still learning."
For the boys, senior Charlie Williams is pushing his cohorts to improve on last year's 10th-place finish at state.
Ferris and Mead in Spokane are the top-rated boys teams this season, but Williams said the Tides have their sights set on beating those teams from Eastern Washington.
"We want to get top-two this year," Williams said. "We're trying to make ourselves known as one of the better teams in the state.
"When we practice, we need to think about what are the other top teams in the state doing to get better."
Ley, head cross country coach at Gig Harbor for the past nine years and a superb runner when she competed for the Tides in the early 1980s, said the team began getting more competitive about four years ago.
"It kind of started with the girls," Ley said, "… just wanting more and raising their expectations about what could possibly happen. And then getting some talent in to help support those expectations made a huge difference.
"At that point, I was looking for things that were going wrong. Now, I look for things that are going right. And I found a lot of things were going right, and we just kind of turned things around."
Williams said the difference with Gig Harbor now is the commitment to work hard from everyone on the team – from varsity runners to incoming freshmen.
"It's nice to have two good teams because the girls team is focusing on getting better, just like we are," he said. "But if you have one team that is way better than the other, then you'll get those teams that screw off, and that takes away from what we're doing.
"But everyone here is focused on getting better, and that helps with the overall team mentality."
Cross country runners to watch
BOYS
Runner School Year
Michael Chinchar Kentwood Senior
Jonathan Lafler Tahoma Junior
Graydon Manning Capital Senior
Miles Unterreiner Gig Harbor Junior
Rob Webster Puyallup Junior
Charlie Williams Gig Harbor Senior
GIRLS
Runner School Year
Amanda Andrews Gig Harbor Senior
Nicole Cochran Bellarmine Junior
Kayla Evans Bellarmine Junior
Chelsie Jorgensen Puyallup Senior
Janae Larson Bethel Senior
Joscelyn Minton Northwest Christian Junior
Kesslee Payne Gig Harbor Senior
SPSL South
Boys: Puyallup
Girls: Bethel
SPSL North
Boys: Tahoma
Girls: Thomas Jefferson
Narrows Bay
Boys: Olympia
Girls: Bellarmine
Narrows Bridge
Boys: Gig Harbor
Girls: Gig Harbor
SPSL 3A
Boys: Auburn Riverside
Girls: Auburn Riverside
West. Cascade
Boys: Capital
Girls: Capital
Olympic
Boys: Port Angeles
Girls: Port Angeles
Nisqually
Boys: Charles Wright
Girls: Seattle Christian
Evergreen
Boys: Tumwater
Girls: Centralia
News Tribune staff