WARDEN — The Warden Cougars Cross Country team is preparing to get back onto the trails this season. While the group is small as of the early season, Warden is gaining traction for their combined middle/high school team. 

“So far so good,” said Cougars Head Coach Karla Banks. “A lot of these kids conditioned over the summer so that was really wonderful.” 

Banks said the Cougars did very well with earning new personal records last season, and everyone remained consistent in each oncoming meet. This year they’re looking to repeat that with goals to take a few athletes to state.

Warden will have two strong returners to their cross country roster this season, with junior Soren Clausen and senior LJ Beavers as the team captain. Both of these athletes have already taken up the responsibility to lead the Cougars in early season practices as they look to uplift their teammates. 

Beavers said he is most excited about the high number of new middle school athletes joining the roster this season. Seeing the younger group show interest in the sport this early on provides confidence in the future of the program as these students age and grow stronger with cross country. 

“Our cross-country team’s only been around for five years, so we’re still relatively new,” he said. “I’m one of the longest runners that has been with the program so if we can get younger athletes and they start to grow and develop their skills, they’ll be good varsity level by the time they get to high school and they’ll be in good condition to compete for competitions like state.” 

As he steps into a position of leadership, Beavers said he finds it best to view everyone on the team as a big group of friends. 

“I’m supporting them as if I was supporting a friend, I’m not supporting them strictly as an athlete”, said Beavers. “I just want them to feel comfortable here, to be a little bit silly, but I also want to make sure that I can keep them focused so that we can improve and develop together.”  

Returning this year after being injured for the last half of the previous season, the senior said he wants to have no regrets as he concludes his time with the cross-country team. 

“I just want to have a lot of fun and have no regrets,” he said. “Give it everything I’ve got for my final season.” 

Assistant Coach Kristina Martin said the team has taken a new approach to avoiding injury this season. One way Warden has decided to tackle injuries is they’ve limited the amount of meets from what they competed in last season. 

“We felt they were too clustered together and didn’t have enough recovery time,” said Martin. 

Another aspect they’ve adopted in hopes to prevent injuries this season is a new focus on conditioning to increase core strength and mobility, said Banks. This was on full display at practice as the athletes started their routine with stretches, core exercises and light cardio before they started their full runs. 

“A lot of these exercises... this is what a lot of physical trainers are actually doing with their athletes to prevent injury,” she said. “They actually have post-run exercises that go back to core, like planks and strength and agility. They’re starting with it, they’re ending with it and their runs are sandwiched in between.” 

Along with their physical improvements, the coaches said they have seen the Cougars show an increase in their determination from last season. Overall, both the coaches are excited to see a fresh season of cross country begin and how much the Cougars can achieve this year.  

“I know they have really big goals so it would be nice to see them achieve their goals,” said Banks.  

The Cougars’ first meet of the season will be at the Ellensburg Invitational Relays September 11, starting at 4:15 p.m. at Irene Rinehart Riverfront Park. 

    Soren Clausen, a junior for the Cougars, jogs along the planned route during practice early in the season.
  

    The Cougars team works on some pre-run stretches during the early season for cross country.
  

    Kieren McPartland from Warden works on a light cardio exercise ahead of the team’s longer run at practice.
  

    Two middle schoolers on the Cougars cross country team run side by side at practice early in the season.