Medical Lake ready for spring CC season

MEDICAL LAKE — In years gone by Medical Lake head cross country coach Gene Blankenship might have gotten himself in trouble with a haughty boast on how his team would fare in the coming months.

“Normally I could tell you the league is going to do this, this and this,” Blankenship said March 8. But not this year.

But as we all know there’s nothing normal about this 2020 fall sports season that is being contested in winter/spring 2021. Thanks COVID-19 for steering the coach who has delivered Medical Lake state 1A boys titles in 2013, 2014 and 2017 off the hot seat

Oh, don’t forget runner-up finishes in 2015, 2016 and a third just for good measure in 2019, the last time there was competition.

As with other sports, the coronavirus has hampered Blankenship’s ability to closely monitor things as he normally might have with his team.

What he does know is, “My kids have done a pretty good job of running throughout this whole thing,” leading Blankenship to know who his top competitors are in both boys and girls teams.

Talentwise, we’re really good through five and then drop off at six and seven,” he said of the boys, and, “The kids are working hard, right, (but) I have no idea what we’re gonna’ do (in competition).”

Medical Lake is senior-loaded on the boys team but the girls are mostly juniors and sophomores.

Senior Quintin Collins should run number one and then sophomore Reid Headrick who should emerge as No. 2. “I think in the first meet he might be three or four, but he should (ultimately) be two.”

Connor Palmen sits at No. 3 right now and is a noted half-miler in track. Next is Benjamin Henry with Kyler Castro who Blankenship said “Works and head off for us,” rounding out the athletes he knows will be difference makers.

“I watch workouts and we are real solid to four, drop off a little bit at five,’ Blankenship said, adding he hopes his No. 6 and No. 7 runners can flourish.

For his work in California, Blankenship was inducted into the Mt. San Antonio College California Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008 after leading Hart High School in Santa Clarita to numerous titles. It’s that pedigree that allows the 79-year-old coach to know his girls team may be pretty special.

“I think it’s going to be in our best girls’ team we’ve had,” Blankenship predicted. That comes with a caveat, “If we get everybody healthy,” he added.

That starts with Allison Payne at No. 1 who Blankenship is certain will miss the opening meet with an injury.

Sophomore Kayla Ramsey is expected to run at No. 2, but, Blankenship said, “In all honesty, she could run number one all year long because she’s been looking really good.”

Jenna Castro, a sophomore and Grace Grubaugh, junior, are questionable for Saturday with junior Katie Hiatt healthy and founding out the top-five.

“Actually our girls team is bigger than our boys team,” Blankenship said, to the point that once everybody’s healthy the Cardinals will field a varsity and JV girls’ team.

Medical Lake embarks on a three-meet schedule Saturday, March 13 vs. perennial Northeast A League contending Riverside and hosts Deer Park. Varsity girls start at 11:45 a.m. with boys an hour later. JV boys race at 11 a.m.

While a bit daunting to race against 1A state champion programs from 2015-2106 (Deer Park) and 2017 (Riverside), “We’ll have some kind of idea where we’re at,” Blankenship, the Cards coach since 2010, said.

These league competitions, however, are non-counting in any standings with the focus on districts and a planned virtual state cross country meet on May 1. This will be run on school tracks in order to equalize the course and presented by the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association as announced on March 8.

Paul Delaney is a retired former Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at pauldelaney53@comcast.net.