MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Cross Country team will begin the season out of its home state, traveling to the Iolani XC Invite hosted on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

“My seniors started planning this trip when they were freshmen,” Moses Lake Cross Country head coach Larry Dagnon said. “They started a year ahead of time, almost all of them had their money, and then it got canceled last year and the year before, and now we’re finally going.”

Before the pandemic, the trip sent runners to Hawaii every two years for the meet, before the meet was canceled in 2020 and 2021.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Moses Lake Cross Country head coach Larry Dagnon said. “All of them earned it, no one’s mom or dad just gave them the money.”

Moses Lake runners fundraised for the trip by completing tasks like bake sales, hauling dirt, pulling weeds, babysitting and more, which were organized by Dagnon and the money gained was put toward the cost of attending the meet.

“The school isn’t paying for any of this, it’s all athlete-raised money,” Dagnon said. “Each runner had to come up with just under $1,300, and $1,300 x 30, that’s $39,000.”

Many runners are looking forward to the trip as a team bonding experience, spending five days in Hawaii while running and sightseeing. The team will visit the sites of Diamond Head, beaches and other local attractions.

“I’m most looking forward to getting to go with the team because they’re like my family, so I’m just looking forward to getting to bond with them,” Moses Lake runner Ashlee Scheel said. “And I’m looking forward to getting to compete at a bigger race.”

With the trip taking two years off due to COVID, this will be a first-time trip to the nation’s 50th state.

“I took this opportunity because I really want to know the team more, and grow together as a team,” sophomore Jaciel Valdez said. “Me personally, I’ve never been on a plane, never been to Hawaii. That would be really nice, (seeing) new places.”

The course of the race is set at Kualoa Ranch in the Kaaawa Valley, the scene of various movie and television film sites including Jurassic Park, Lost and more.

“I’m really excited because all of the seniors have been waiting for a long time to go, and it’s going to be really fun,” Moses Lake senior Marissa Bischoff said. “The race is where Jurassic Park was filmed, so obviously I’m really excited to go and compete, but I’m also really looking forward to the culture we’re going to experience.”

“It shows me that they’re thinking about the sport year-round,” Dagnon said of what the fundraising efforts meant to him. “That they’re committed to what we’re doing all the time, and for so many of them it’s been a major part of their life.”

Along with the excitement of the return to the Hawaii trip, Moses Lake runners have been training on a variety of aspects of cross country, with a new emphasis on a runner’s mentality during a meet.

“We’ve been working on just becoming faster, more improved at every level,” Dagnon said. “(Mental training) has been our big push, and nutritionally so they can achieve their dreams. We really are trying to train on the mental end a lot more than we ever have, because most runners at the 4A level, they’re very similar in conditioning level, ability. Then, what’s going to separate you? It’s what’s between your ears.”

After the Iolani meet, Moses Lake begins its regular season back on the West Coast on Sept. 17 at the Apple Ridge Run Invite.

“I’m looking forward to how our team’s going to run, because they’re all looking really nice this year,” junior Noah Bingham said. “I think we have a good shot at state.”

Moses Lake leaves for the Iolani meet on Wednesday morning, and the meet takes place on Sept. 10. More information on the meet can be found at https://www.iolanixc.com/ixci.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Schedule

Sept. 10 - Highlander Invitational

Sept. 10 - Iolani XC Invite

Sept. 17 - Apple Ridge Run Invite - 2A, 3A, 4A

Sept. 22 - CBBN League Meet #1

Sept. 24 - Connell Invite

Sept. 29 - Windermere Central Basin Colockum Clash (Quincy)

Oct. 7-8 - Nike HOLE IN THE WALL XC INVITATIONAL

Oct. 8 - 53rd Max Jensen Richland Invitational

Oct. 13 - Moses Lake Invitational at the Gorge