Tradition means different things to different people. For the Lindbergh boys cross-country team, it means a third undefeated dual meet season in the past four years. It means a fourth-consecutive league championship, and it likely means a sixth team appearance at state in the past seven seasons.
“Tradition makes a big difference,” said Lindbergh coach Jef Rettmann. “Tradition matters. New kids come in knowing nothing but winning.”
The team has been to the state meet and placed 11th or better each year since 2001, except 2004. But 2004 wasn’t a failure; the Eagles had the overall individual state champion in Sam Ahlbeck. In that run of seven seasons since 2001, Lindbergh has four (dual meet) undefeated seasons, two one-loss seasons, one two-loss season and one three-loss season. The teams’s combined record over the stretch is 50-7. Most recently, the Eagles placed eighth at state last season.
The scary part? Rettmann said he thinks this 2008 team is his best yet. This group has it all: talent, depth and, most importantly, the willingness to work hard. Rettmann said the off-season work that the runners put in makes the difference between a talented team and a championship team.
“You need some talent,” he said. “But mostly they just have to work hard in the offseason if they want to win.”
The seven varsity runners going to state will probably be Trevor Thompson, Matt Miland, Joseph Patti, Nate Reitz, Thanh Nguyen, Nate Tandecki and James Cornell, although Rettmann said junior varsity runners C.J. Timm and Alex Nelson have outside chances to jump up and make varsity for the state team. It all depends on how the runners do at the league meet Saturday.
“It’s rarely a judgment call,” Rettmann said of the choice of which runners to take to state. “The stopwatch does that for us.”
Rettmann put it as tactfully as possible when he said while his team is the best he has had, the Seamount League as a whole is having a down season. Perhaps the best example was at the all-city meet on Oct. 16 at Seward Park.
The Eagles swept the JV boys, girls and varsity boys races, with mostly dominating scores across the board.
Another example was Lindbergh’s home meet on Oct. 9 against Highline, Kennedy and Evergreen. The Eagles placed 12 JV runners ahead of the fastest runner from any other school and all seven varsity runners against any runner from another school. With the Eagles dominance in the league, the team has been able to juggle JV runners into varsity races to see what they can do.
The Eagles established themselves as a state contender with strong invitational showings early in the season. Lindbergh won the Fort Steilacoom Invitational on Sept. 20, beating 39 other Washington teams. Next was the Nike Pre-Nationals Meet on Sept. 27. The Eagles placed second to Jesuit (Portland), one of the top teams in the nation.
Lindbergh also swept the JV and varsity races at the Mount Baker Invitational on Oct. 4, with Thompson taking the boys individual title in the varsity race.
The Eagles’ most fearsome competitor at the 3A state meet this year will be North Central High School of Spokane. The team won the state meet last year in dominating fashion, with 36 combined points. Seattle Prep came in second place with 110 points. The team also features the top returning competitor at state last year, senior Andrew Kimpel who placed second to Mount Rainier’s Ryan Prentice.
After all the hard work, all of the miles and all of the intervals, Rettmann has one last secret to making the Eagles go: “We always just try to have fun out here.”
Girls team making
its own noise
The girls team has made significant strides this season, winning a league championship for the first time since 1997. Rettmann said Lindbergh’s strong girls soccer program usually keeps the girls cross-country team from matching the boys teams’ success, but things just worked out well this year.
The Eagle girls lost their first meet because not all runners were eligible to run, but have won every dual meet since, ending the season 7-1. Rettmann said the team has a good shot at state.
Even if the girls don’t go to state this year, many of the top runners are freshmen, so there will be chances in the future.
Top runner Sarah Reiter won the all-city meet by running nearly 40 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. The freshman won an Oct. 9 meet against Highline, Kennedy and Evergreen by over 2 minutes and 10 seconds. In the opening dual meet of the season (Sept. 15 against Mount Rainier, Kennedy and Tyee), she place first by just under two minutes.
Hazen’s Michelle Wnek and Reiter’s own teammate Anna Patti are the only runners that have been close to Reiter in dual meets this season.
Patti, also a freshman, placed second twice and third once in the meets, trailing just Hazen’s Wnek and Reiter. Other top runners for Lindbergh are freshman Jasmine Fallgreen, junior Erika Galindo and freshman Nicole Fawcett.
Adam McFadden can be reached at amcfadden@rentonreporter.com or 425-255-3484, ext. 5054.
