Cougar cross country conquers conference

Capital's cross country teams took their second straight conference title at Fort Steilacoom yesterday, reports The Olympian:

Capital had four of the top five girls finishers, led by senior Amanda Wright, who cruised to victory on the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 23 seconds.

Yelm sophomore Ashley Taylor was second (19:44) followed by Capital's Emily Wallen (19:55), Kailyn Swarthout (20:15) and Johannah Verhulst (20:24).

All five of Capital's top girls finishers, including freshman Brianne Wright (20:49), had their best times on the Fort Steilacoom course. Amanda Wright, Brianne's sister, is the only senior of the bunch.

"One of the things we try to work on with the girls is working with your teammates," Capital girls coach Kevin Wright said. "We tell them to 'run with your teammates as long as you can.' Training together, you know what you're capable of. Why not race together?"

The Capital boys took that philosophy to heart. After Lakes senior Seth Bridges won the boys race (15:39) ahead of Shelton's Dan Paine (16:13) and Lakes' Thaddeus Miller (17:07), Capital runners took the next five places.

Cougars junior Nick Harsell was Capital's top boys finisher (17:08), followed in succession by teammates Josh Echols (17:20), Adam Saul (17:20), Ted Christensen (17:29), Dalton Morgan (17:37) and Nathan Huynh (17:41). Christensen is the only senior of that Cougars pack.

Add to that a resurgent football team, with girls' soccer (9-1 in conference) and volleyball and boys' golf (WCC champs) and boys' tennis at the top of the heap, and you can see why Capital's got a full-blown case of playoff fever.