When Interlake’s cross country team hits the course, success begins and ends with a team concept.

That theory – the idea that yes, even cross country incorporates teamwork – has hit hard with this year’s version of the Saints squad and has them looking to make school history.

“It’s probably weird for people to think that in cross country there is teamwork,” said Max Crowell, the Saints No.1 runner and one of its captains. “But it’s really just knowing that everyone has your back that pushes you.”

Interlake has never won a cross country trophy at the state meet for a top-4 finish, but after sending 14 runners to the state meet last year, it’s a goal that is front and center for the team. Getting that trophy has been the motivator this year, the runners say, and coach Brad Barquist said its a goal made possible by the work put in in the offseason.

“The most important thing this year has been the offseason training,” said Barquist, an Interlake graduate and an Olympian in the 10,000 meters in the 1996 Atlanta games. “Most of these kids trained all summer long, six days a week. They came into the season in very good shape. It’s just been recently embraced by this group of athletes who want to get better and do well.”

The hard work has paid dividends. The Interlake girls team went undefeated in league meets this year; the boys lost to just Bellevue and Liberty. The girls squad won the Bellevue City Meet for the first time in 19 years.

“We talk about success every single day, every single practice,” said senior captain Ashish Suntosh. “We have a chance, every single meet, to win it. We are all really close as a team and we talk about pushing each other to do well.”

The Saints were also bolstered by the experience returning. Summer Hanson has emerged as the Interlake girls’ No.1 runner after finishing 42nd at the state meet last season as a sophomore. Senior captain Brooke Niemann, who finished 48th, also returns, as well as junior Eleanor Tansley. Also having solid years on the girls side are sophomore Nadia Lucas and newcomer Nikki Waghani. Also anchoring the top-7 are Annie Davis and Grace Hsieh.

Crowell, who finished 23rd at state last season, leads the boys side, along with Suntosh and new varsity runners Sam Giner and Jay Taves. State competitor Ivan Leniski also returns, and Staal Githinji and Colin Glenny round out the top-7.

“This is one of the most competitive teams I’ve had, both from a desire standpoint and in just plain old race day results,” Barquist said. “They gain a lot of strength from each other and that makes a big difference.”

Another thing the teams gain strength from is a set of acronyms they created, at Barquist’s direction, to keep in mind during the race. In the boys’ case, that’s SPEED (Strength, Positive Thinking, Effort, Efficiency and Da’ Team) and in the girls’ case, it’s BEAST (Bold, Each Other, Attack, Strong, Technique).

It’s worked.

“I know that I struggled a lot with the mental aspect of racing,” Suntosh said. “After the coach talked about using an acronym and how it helped him, I started thinking more and more about it. It motivated me to go faster and faster because I know everyone else on the team is doing their best and I have to do the same part.”

Crowell said the acronym idea works considering that it comes from an Olympian.

“Coach was an Olympic athlete so if it worked for him, it better work for us,” he said. “You know he’s been there and that makes you trust it even more.”

The Saints first step towards a state title begins this Saturday. The team will travel to Fort Steilacoom for the Sub-District meet against the 2A Olympic, Seamount and SPSL leagues.

“It’s looking pretty good – we don’t race those schools very much, so all I know is following results and that says we’ll be pretty competitive,” Barquist said. “It’s definitely been an exciting season for us and I can’t wait to see how these next couple of meets go.”

The runners say their ready to reach their goals of making school history, with Saturday being the beginning of that road that leads to the state championship meet in Pasco – and the chance to grab some hardware.

“We’re going to get our own trophy case,” Niemann said. “And that is exciting.”