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--> --> AHS cross country off to districts By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings Look out Southern Oregon Conference, here come the Ashland Grizzlies. Both the Grizzly boys and girls cross country teams will be looking to bring home team wins from the SOC District meet Saturday at Grants Pass. The Grizz boys have won the last three meets and the girls have placed second in two of the last three. The top two boys teams and top two girls teams from the district meet will go on to the state meet Nov. 2. The success of the AHS boys is linked to the strong legs of sophomore Andy Wright, who took first at an SOC four-way Sept. 26 in Lithia Park. Grizz head coach Bob Julian Jr. said Wright has improved at an age many runners do not. "Andy was really good as a freshman, but he has improved by quantum leaps, and a lot of sophomores don't do that," Julian said. Julian said that Wright has cut a minute off his time from last year in the 5-kilometer SOC races, and that although Wright does not stand out from the crowd physically, his race-day concentration is what sets him apart. "He is a guy that has a lot of inner desire to be the best - really mentally tough - and he uses a lot of visualization," Julian said. "He can really focus when he needs to. He is not always the fastest guy in practice, but when it comes to races he steps it up. "He really wants to be a D1 type of runner, and he is smart enough to know how fast he has to be to be good at that level." In the girls side of the SOC meet, the sister combination of senior Kendall Clark and her freshman counterpart Hannah could lead the Grizzlies to the crown. The Clark sisters finished a wire-to-wire, one-two win at the Lithia Park meet, and have shown loads of potential. "The sister-sister combo will be up there," Julian said, "they have done pretty well this year." Julian said he would not be surprised to see the elder Clark take the individual honors in her last district competition. "Kendall has been our No. 1 runner all year, and this is her last districts, and she has put a lot of time into it," Julian said. Julian said that although his runners are considered one of the favorites to win districts, nothing is written in stone. "I would say that both teams are among the favorites, if not the favorite for the boys and girls, but we could just as easily not make it," Julian said. "Anything can happen. If everybody runs pretty solid, they should both be there." Standing in the way of the all-Grizz finish are the boys and girls from Klamath Union. "KU is the wild card, their first and second runners are pretty good," Julian said. "They are actually favored to finish one and two." Fortunately for Ashland, the district meet is determined by more than just the first two finishers. Julian said the boys competition may come down to the sixth man, and this may be where the Grizzlies hold the edge. "The sixth man could be really important to us, and (senior) Kevin Spears and (sophomore) Justin Faudree are running really well," Julian said. Sophomore David Morgan, the Grizzlies' fourth runner, improved on his personal record by more than 30 seconds this season, and Julian said he will be another big key at districts. "He elevated us this season so at the meets we won, we won pretty easily," Julian said. Julian said that KU is the biggest threat on the girls side also because they have the same team as last year. "They have everybody back, but we added Hannah and became better," Julian said. Since the top two teams make it to the state meet, Julian said it would take a major stumble for his runners not to make it. "We would have to do something wrong not to be there," he said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing