Season preview: SHS cross country embraces opportunity to compete

SANDPOINT — Ask anyone and they’ll go on for hours about how the Sandpoint cross country team impacted their life.

The relationships made go well beyond the sport and last a lifetime. Cross country head coaches Matt and Angie Brass have fostered a culture built on caring for everyone around you.

Senior Keegan Nelson has experienced it firsthand the last three years and really there’s no way to describe it.

“It’s Matt and Angie and the family dynamic that brings it all together,” he said. “They’ve definitely adopted the team like it’s their own kid. They are here with us on every run, they do everything we do and that in my mind just helps a lot knowing that I can have teammates and coaches that are accountable and trustworthy.”

This fall, the coronavirus will provide a unique challenge for the tight-knit group. The team is used to hugging, high-fiving and embracing one another throughout practices and race days. But the health concerns presented by the pandemic will limit the amount of physical contact the athletes will have one another.

Angie said the Bulldogs have to retrain their brains to not go in for that celebratory hug after crossing the finish line.

“Not being able to do that, it’s just different to make connections and it takes a little more effort,” she said. “We got to figure out a way to really let your teammates know that you did a good job and they are proud of you.”

But if any sport survives this roller-coaster of a fall we are headed into, it will be cross country due to natural social-distancing the sport possesses.

Boys chase history, podium finish

There is a lot of excitement around the boys team this season because the group returns its top two runners, seniors Jett Lucas and Nikolai Braedt. The duo has already etched their names in the Sandpoint record books as two of the top runners the program has ever seen, but they aren’t finished leaving their mark.

Braedt shattered the boys 5K school record last season by just over 13 seconds and Lucas sits in fourth on the all-time list with a 15:54.5. In 2019, the pair led a group of boys that broke the team’s 5K pack record as well.

It’s hard to imagine Lucas and Braedt can improve but they can and Matt expects them too.

“For them, my goal would be they push each other to go No. 1 and No. 2 on the all-time list,” Matt said.

The only problem is the duo may not see the competition they need to reach that goal. The team was hoping to compete in the Battle for the 509 and the Bob Firman Invitational this season, but both of those have been canceled due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs would have seen schools from the Greater Spokane League in those meets that would have pushed the boundaries for everyone on the team.

“It just changes our game plan,” Matt said. “We were thinking of being able to do the season a certain way and challenging ourselves a certain way, and we have to pivot quickly and make the most of it.”

Lucas and Braedt are considered to be the top two runners in North Idaho this season by a pretty wide margin so they likely wouldn’t see any competition that could contend with them until state. That means they will have to push each other day in and day out to reach that goal. Luckily, the pair trains together and is used to doing that all the time.

“When you’re a really good runner, it’s nice to have 10 or 12 guys in front of you really driving you along,” Matt said. “I think that’s a lot of times when people get there best.”

“It’s not that it can’t be done, it just takes a different level of discipline,” Matt added.

As a team, the boys return four of their top seven varsity runners from last year’s squad that captured fifth at state. Gabe Christman, Seth Graham and Brady Nelsen all graduated. The trio will be tough to replace but the Bulldogs have plenty of emerging talent.

Nelson will step into one of the squad’s three captain spots this season, alongside Lucas and Braedt. He also expected to fill the No. 3 spot on the team.

“It’s actually been a little bit scary, but I know I’m going to have to step it up,” Nelson said about trying to keep up with Lucas and Braedt.

Behind Nelson, junior Trey Clark and sophomore Slate Fragoso will fill the No. 4 and 5 spots and junior Ben Ricks and freshman Nathan Roche are rounding out the varsity seven as of right now.

Matt said the team sat down in January, talked about last season’s fifth place state finish and defined their team goals. Matt said the boys are pushing for a top-three finish at state this fall and want to place a pair of state medalists in the top 10.

Lucas and Braedt were co-captains last season as well and both are comfortable being role models for the younger athletes coming up in the program.

“Coming into it this year, I feel a lot more confident and capable in myself that I can be in that leadership role,” Lucas said, “and that I am able to be someone that people look up to.”

When asked what motivates him, Braedt gave the most selfless answer: “I think it’s just the drive to better myself and just improve. I just love the idea of helping the team.”

Nelson is the Bulldogs’ dark horse. Last season, he got overshadowed by the performance of the team and the runners in front of him. But now, he’s ready to step in the spotlight and Matt said Nelson has come into his own as a vocal leader.

Nelson said he takes the responsibility of being a captain really seriously and he just wants to make sure everyone feels welcome.

Nelson currently sits at No. 8 on the all-time list with a 16:21. He hopes to go sub-16 minutes this fall.

Lucas said he is looking forward to the first meet of the season and he feels he improved leaps and bounds mentally and physically over the offseason.

He admitted the time he spent away from his teammates during the summer was extremely difficult.

“Those days in quarantine where we had to run by ourselves were the worst runs of my life,” Lucas said. “Trying to grind without the help of Nikolai or some of my other friends around me, it’s not an enjoyable experience.”

Girls will lean on top three, senior captains

Coming off of a 10th place finish at state in 2019, Angie Brass is eager to see what her girls can accomplish this fall.

The girls lost their top two runners in Paige Davidson and Bionce Vincent, but the returning runners trained hard this summer and the progress they’ve made is profound.

Junior Megan Oulman is the squad’s top returning runner and junior Mackenzie Suhy-Gregoire and sophomore Ara Clark have filled the spots right behind her to create a highly-competitive top three for the Bulldogs.

“Our returners are doing really well and mentoring the incoming group very nicely,” Angie said.

Oulman said she upped the ante this summer by putting in more mileage and she’s ready to help lead the pack this season.

“We all know that we have to work extra harder this year after losing Paige and Bionce,” Oulman said. “I think the younger girls have realized they need to step up and they have.”

There isn’t a lot separating Sandpoint’s top three girls.

“It’s always so competitive between us three because we always change places,” Oulman said.

The trio pushes and builds each other up and Angie said they love it.

“That’s what teams want is that pack, strength and unity and running for each other makes it so much more meaningful,” Angie said.

Oulman said last year during races she never got a chance to run with Suhy-Gregoire, but she had a pretty unique experience with Clark. Oulman said Clark would always be right on her heels and she remembers Clark finishing a second behind her at districts.

“We’re like the dynamic duo,” Oulman joked.

Senior Camille Neuder, one of the team’s two captains, falls in right behind the top three. Seniors Quinn Hooper and Annaby Kanning, sophomore Payton Betz and freshman Grace Rookey round out the girls fighting for Sandpoint’s top seven varsity spots.

Angie has been impressed with what she has seen from her girls including Neuder, who has taken a huge leap from last season.

Neuder missed her sophomore year due to a knee injury, but enters her final season fully healthy and she is eager to leave her mark.

“It really has just rejuvenated my love for competing,” Neuder said about recovering from her injury.

Neuder ran over 300 miles during the summer and she hopes that dedication will pay off this fall and allow her to stick with the top pack of girls.

Neuder said she feels honored to be named a captain. She loves the culture the team has and she plans on leaving the program better than she found it.

“Just every day at practice coming with an attitude that makes everyone else happy to be here because I think that’s really what it’s all about,” she said.

Hooper, the other team captain, felt respected when the leadership role was given to her.

“Seeing the leadership from the other captains throughout high school has given me that example to step into,” Hooper said, “and it’s really rewarding to be able to help out.”

Hooper said she had to overcome a mental block this offseason without her teammates. Some days, Hooper struggled to do the workouts, but then she thought about her team and how her hard work would benefit them, and she pushed through.

Hooper is looking to best her personal record of 21:59 this season. Oulman, who sits at No. 17 on the girls all-time 5K list, is hoping to get under 20 minutes again and challenge her PR as well.

Oulman said the togetherness from the top down on the girls side seems different and she can’t wait to get the season started.

“I think this team is really special this year,” she said.

Angie said the team is going to embrace every opportunity they get to compete this fall.

“After those months when people were not running together, I just think there is a heightened gratitude and awareness of how powerful it is to be able to have each other to run with,” she said.

Sandpoint will be pursuing its eighth straight regional title on the boys and girls side when the season opens 9 a.m. Friday with a dual against Timberlake.