THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Early start a key for upcoming tests

Some are already celebrating their senior night. 

Weird, since school just began for many in this area on Tuesday. 

Even more odd is that for those swimmers and some cross country athletes, the season is just getting started in either Moscow or Farragut State Park in Athol later today. 

You can thank the state moving to MaxPreps rankings for qualifying for the expanded playoffs in soccer and volleyball for the handful of games that were played before Labor Day and school began this fall. 

THERE ARE still a few schools that are trying to squeeze a mini-vacation into the season, albeit with a lot of work to get there. 

Instead of competing at the Nike Bob Firman Invitational, Coeur d’Alene will send its varsity cross country teams to the Woodbridge Classic at Great Park in Irvine, Calif., on Sept. 19. The Viking JV will represent the program at Bob Firman on Sept. 26 instead at The Course in Spokane Valley.  

“I think it’s great for our local cross country running community,” Coeur d’Alene coach Emry Carr said. “There’s going to be great competition at Bob Firman, but it’s beneficial for us to go to Woodbridge to get our kids recruited. We go for a litmus test to see how our training is going, but also to me, it’s important for those kids that are wanting to go to the NCAA level, it gives them a chance to be visible on the national stage.”  

As for tests during the season, Timberlake will compete in Bob Firman at The Course in Spokane Valley, as well as a trip to Oregon to compete in the The Mook Invitational at Alderbrook Golf Course in Tillamook on Sept. 19.  

“We’ve always done an overnighter, and after talking to the kids, we decided to go somewhere different,” Timberlake coach Shawn Lawler said. “As a team, we watched the movie ‘McFarland, U.S.A., with Kevin Costner and he works with these kids that have never seen the ocean before. So he takes them there. And we have some kids that haven’t seen the ocean either, so we’re going to race, get some cheese (at the popular Tillamook Creamery) and go to see the ocean. It’s going to be a neat experience for the kids.”  

Timberlake’s girls won three straight state titles from 2009 to 2011, then added a fourth last year at Lewiston Orchards. The Tigers are seeking their first boys title. 

To win one this year, a few things need to continue to go well throughout the season.  

“We need to stay healthy,” Lawler said. “We have had a sports psychologist that has come in and talked to the kids. There’s a big mental component to this that we’ve noticed the last few years, and it’s really helped.”  

Another help is having Bob Firman a short 45-minute bus ride away instead of eight hours away at Eagle Island State Park. Eagle Island is hosting an invitational next Saturday, but no local schools are making the trip south. 

The Course will also serve as host of the 6A, 5A and 4A district meets on Oct. 22 and the Nike Northwest club meet on Nov. 21.  

“I think it’s going to be really nice,” Lawler said. “A Nike-sponsored event in our own backyard will be nice. And you can still go to other places throughout the year. It’s going to bring a lot of teams from Washington and Oregon. I don’t know if it’s going to be as big as it was in Boise this year, but it’s going to be neat to attend a Nike-sponsored event and not have to travel.”  

AFTER TODAY’S home soccer match against Lakeland, the Coeur d'Alene girls will have five more matches remaining, the lone home date on Sept. 19 against Lake City in a 6A Inland Empire League match. 

The Vikings, after playing home games on the turf at Viking Field the past two years, have played the first four on the school’s grass soccer field this year.  

“We really wanted to move to the grass,” Coeur d'Alene girls soccer coach Andy Vredenburg said. “The last two years have been pretty brutal on injuries. We’re hoping to limit that and feel our girls play better on the grass. We’ll still have a few on the turf, but I think we’ll have a better shot on the grass.”  

Of course, that match next Saturday will be on the turf Viking Field at Coeur d'Alene High. 

Lake City still has a nonleague date against Mead on Sept. 21 at home. 

In case you were curious about these kinds of things, Lake City is ranked second in the state in 6A according to MaxPreps.com. 

 “I don’t know how many games we’re going to win,” Lake City girls soccer coach Matt Ruchti said. “But we put together a schedule that will give us a chance to get into the top 10 and have a chance to get to state.”  

Timberlake will host Sugar-Salem on Sept. 19. The Diggers of Sugar City are the top-ranked girls program in 4A. Timberlake is ranked fifth, Coeur d’Alene Charter seventh. 

“Sugar-Salem likes to play new teams on its schedule,” Timberlake girls soccer coach Logan Georgeadis said. “We’d talked about it and I thought it was a joke because I didn’t think they’d reach out. I’m excited they reached out and are coming here.”  

Coeur d’Alene Charter will also face Sugar-Salem next Friday at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake.  

“They reached out to us,” Coeur d’Alene Charter girls soccer coach Stacy Smith said. “It’s always fun to play them, and it was worth their while to come up.”  

IF IT winds up that more local teams end up qualifying for state tournaments this year, can we really argue that it didn’t work.

Early, late — whatever. 

Let’s just enjoy the ride from here. 

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1206 or via email @JECdAPress. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.