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Team of the Week

WOODCREEK HIGH SCHOOL
TIMBERWOLVES

 

By Joe Hartman
DyeStatCal
       This is the first of several installments of the Sac-Joaquin Team of the Week for 2006. Woodcreek High School of Roseville will lead us off. Some of the Wolves best runners this decade have been Jen McNulty (’03) and Lauren Mulkey (’04, Cal Poly) on the girls side and Alex Duenas (’04, Chico State) and Calvin Glass (‘04, Air Force) on the guys side. We caught up with the Timberwolves recently as they trained along Lake Natoma and the American River bike trail on a warm summer evening.
       With the exception of Cameron Mitchell, who was 42nd in the D2 state race, Woodcreek didn’t send anyone to the state meet in 2005. But that could easily change this year. The boys just missed getting the third D2 spot by three points. For 2006, Division 2 now gets four berths to Fresno and as you can tell by their comments below, the Timberwolves fully expect to be one of the four.
        In 2002 the Woodcreek girls did make the state meet, but four times since 2000 (in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004) the Wolves have come up one spot short, missing by 8 points in 2001 and just one point in 2004. Woodcreek was fifth in a tough division last year. Another one of the section freshman phenoms (along with Maria Malone, Danzel Bradshaw, and Stacey Haack) is the Wolves’ Ashley Joyner-Lapray who took a bittersweet pill last November 11th at Section Finals. Despite taking 8th in the D2 race (just like Mitchell), Ashley was the #6 individual and just missed out going to state. St. Francis’ arrival in Division 2 makes things a bit dicier this go ‘round, but with Joyner-Lapray, fellow freshman Jaime Brooks, junior Ashley Buckner (21:52 at sections), the Ferrer twins, promising newcomer Courtney Crosta, and the return of Alex Ciaraglia, these ladies will be in thick of the things. As a freshman in 2004, Ciaraglia stunned Kim Crouch (holder of five state XC medals) in the SFL league finals and went on to the fourth fastest time in the entire SJS at section finals. The past twelve months have been spent overcoming foot injuries, but optimism is very high for a healthy 2006 for "Lil' Alex".
       We had a chance to talk to some of the varsity boys (Cameron Mitchell, Taylor Newman, Garrett Seawell, Payton Pearson, and Ron Smith) following a tough workout.

DyeStatCal: You guys just missed state last year by three points. What’s different this year that’s going to put you over the top and get you to Woodward Park?

Cameron: I think we’re going to do a lot better this year. We got more base training in and we’re training a lot harder as a team. A lot more guys are putting all their time into this. Last year - base training-wise - we were messing around. This year we’re dedicated and we really want to do this.

Taylor: Last year we came up short by three points. This year we have a goal: we’re not going to come up short. More motivation, I guess you could say.

Payton: I’m new to the team. We’ve all been bustin’ our butts and we’re not only going to get to state but we’re going to do some serious damage there.

DyeStatCal: Of all the teams in Division 2, whom do you fear the most?

Ron: I fear Rocklin just because they beat us last year in our league. They took our league meet banner, but hopefully this year they lost all their players and so we’ve got a better chance of getting our league banner back.

Payton: Just a comment on that… That was pure luck by Rocklin.

Garrett: We’ve got Jesuit of course, but we’ll worry about them later.

Cameron: Really right now, I don’t really fear anybody. I know Jesuit’s got a good team and they’ve got a few more juniors (going to be seniors) so they’ve still got a little left, but next year we’re going to be gunning for them - hard.

DyeStatCal: Terri McKillop’s your coach. Can you tell me what kind of impact she has and why she makes Woodcreek a special team not only in your league a special team at your school?

Cameron: She’s just overall there for us – for everyone. She knows everyone of us down to the disabilities and the good aspects of us. She knows how to push us to what we need and build everybody up. We also have Mr. Hildebrandt and he pushes us and knows everyone on the guy’s side. Mrs. McKillop’s an awesome coach.

Ron: I think Mrs. McKillop is an awesome coach. She’s a friend first, but she’ll still kill you. She’ll be nice, but if she knows you can go harder, she’ll push you past that point. She doesn’t let you let yourself down at all.

Payton: This is only my second year here and she has made me feel so at home with this team. She’s really gotten me to bond with the team and the team has bonded with me. It’s a treasure to be a part of something very special. Mrs. McKillop is by far one of the best role models I’ve ever had in my life. She’s been there for us and she pushes us to our max…

DyeStatCal: I think after Coach McKillop reads all this, she’s still going to work you guys just as hard. Any other thoughts?

Garrett: One thing about missing state last year…most of these guys were sophomores and I was a freshman, so we’re all young. We’ve still got next year too.

Following the long, hilly run along the American River bluffs, the team walked out into Lake Natoma at Negro Bar and used the chilly waters as a therapeutic ice bath. With their legs still tingling, we next had some words with sophomores Jaime Brooks and Ashley Joyner-LaPray about the girls’ team.

DyeStatCal: Like the boys, the girls finished high but not high enough at section finals. What can the girls’ team do to climb the final hurdle and go to Woodward Park as a team?

Jaime: I think by doing more runs like we’re doing now… do harder workouts because some of us were not racing our hardest.

Ashley: We just need to step it up one more notch and see what we can do and have other people try to step it up with you so we all do that.

DyeStatCal: The schedule… you’ve both been through a full season now. Which race do you like the most and which one prepares you best for the section meet?

Jaime: The hilly ones. The Yolo. (Ashley agrees.) It’s very hilly and it helps you get you moving your body a lot more than the softer ones.

Ashley: It teaches you to push yourself when you don’t think you can.

DyeStatCal: What do you like most about Woodcreek cross country than any other sports team you’ve ever been on?

Jaime: The people. Definitely the coaches, they really do help you a lot here and I feel that I can connect better with them and they can help me get better.

Ashley: Same thing. Everybody works together and everybody looks out for each other and it just helps you stay mentally tough.

DyeStatCal: What was your best race of the year?

Ashley: Definitely at sections. (Ashley was 8th in D2 with a time of 20:33)

Jaime: At Folsom High. The second league meet. (Jaime was fourth in a very fast league.)

We asked Coach McKillop (far left in below picture) what she most liked about coaching cross country:

Coach McKillop: “Cross Country is such a unique sport. It’s great to get to know the kids and get out running with them and sweat with them. I’ve coached lots of sports and cross country is the most interpersonal sport. You get to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. Plus it’s good to be coaching girls and boys at the same time. There’s lots of camaraderie and you can include everyone. You can learn just as much from the kids who aren’t top 7 as much as those who are. You have fun and you laugh a lot. Take the summer program… it’s meant to be fun and to laugh and just get a good base without the emphasis on racing, so the kids then buy into the hard workouts”

As far as coaching specifically at Woodcreek High School, Coach McKillop had this to say:

Coach McKillop: “I like my staff I get good support from the school and the parents. The disadvantage is that West Roseville is flat and we have to drive a lot. We don’t have any good running trails, so we’re sometimes on the roads which are flat and dangerous, so we need decent parents. It took a couple years to build up the parent base: getting people to believe in you and your program. Now they know what to expect… and the expectations are high.”

The girls are currently ranked 8th in the Sac-Joaquin Section and 4th among the Division 2 schools. The boys rankings will be released a little bit later.