Sumner Cross Country: Coach Kristin Martin has dual roles this season
Published 4:15 pm Monday, August 31, 2009
By John Leggett | The Courier-Herald
Led by the energetic coach Kristin Martin, the Sumner High girls’ cross country team notched consecutive 12th place finishes in the Class 3A state championships.
Things will be a bit different for Martin this season, as she will also be coaching the Spartan boys.
“Thank goodness this is such an attentive group of kids,” Martin said. “They have shown me that they listen and they also know what kind of devotion and training it takes to succeed in this sport. I don’t have to worry about them making the wrong choices in practice and goofing off. They do what I ask them to do the first time. They are just an exceptional bunch of kids.”
The big names in the Spartan cross-country program have graduated as Zack Barry has moved on to the University of Washington and Hillary Norris to Washington State University, but it isn’t as though their departures left the cupboard bare.
The girls’ will be powered by a seasoned trio of joggers in seniors Ashlee Sincraugh, Stefani Castile and Jackie Tomlin and Sumner is also blessed to have junior Leah Engelhardt and sophomore Gabby Phelps on board. Martin added that there are a handful of freshman girls trying out who are promising prospects, keeping the tradition of rekindling the cross-country program at alive.
The boys are headed by juniors Josh Bacon, Jobe Layton and Brian Judkins, who will take encouraging freshman prodigies Josh Goodsell and Lorenzo Testa-Parker under their wings and lead by example.
“I’ve been hearing a great deal about Lorenzo ever since he was in seventh grade and additionally am very excited about Goodsell,” Martin said. “I feel that both of those guys are going to be notable contributors. It will be interesting to watch them develop.”
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