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FRIENDLY COMPETITION PAYS OFF
PETALUMA HIGH CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM HEADING TO NCS CHAMPIONSHIP MEET ON TOP
DATE: Friday, November 17, 2006
BYLINE: By NATHAN WRIGHT
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
By JEFF KAN LEE / The Press Democrat
Petaluma High's cross-country runners are
Brandon Felipe, Benjamin Stern, Devin and Sterling Lockert and Cole Yungert.
After months of work and high expectations, the Petaluma High Trojans are going into this weekend's North
Coast Section cross-country championship meet exactly where they want to be.
Right on top.
Petaluma High's five distance runners came into the season ranked first in the North Coast Section, and
after dominating the Sonoma County League championship earlier this month, they are favored to win Saturday's
NCS championship in Hayward.
``We pretty much ran by ourselves the whole race'' at the league championship, team captain Cole Yungert
said. ``We've been doing it all season. We finished one through five in every league meet except against
Analy,'' when one Tiger runner broke the top five.
Yungert and teammates Sterling and Devin Lockert, Brandon Felipe and Benjamin Stern have pushed to improve
by battling themselves more than by battling runners on opposing teams this season.
The battle between teammates, described by the runners as friendly but fiercely competitive, is led by
Sterling Lockert.
``We all know he's faster, but everyone's looking for that shot to beat him,'' Yungert said. ``He knows it,
too, and that's the good part. He's up to the challenge.''
Lockert's only loss this season came against Felipe, who ran so well in passing his teammate that he set the
Windsor High School course record.
``That was a good day for me,'' Felipe said. ``Sterling said he had an off day. I'm hoping to get him again
at NCS or state.''
Lockert isn't worried. In fact, he welcomes the sight of his teammates pursuing him.
``During the race, I turn around, and I see purple, purple, purple, purple,'' Lockert said, describing his
teammates' jerseys. ``It's great to know that you're at the head of that. It's great having them there.''
While the four runners are chasing Lockert, the boys' coach said Lockert is setting the pace for successful
races time and time again.
``Sterling has really developed a sense of pace and what he's capable of doing,'' coach Jim Lynch said.
``He strategically knows how to get out in a race and maintain a pace he can hold. One of the great struggles
for many runners is pacing. That's one of his strengths, and that's pretty good for a 15-year-old kid.''
With Sterling out front, the others spend the race trying to overtake him.
Lynch encourages his runners to push themselves to close the gaps between one another, which in turn presses
those in front to run all the faster to maintain their leads.
This philosophy has turned every meet and practice into an exercise in getting stronger, and the boys say
they are ready to take on all comers at Saturday's meet.
``We've trained all season; we're physically ready,'' Stern said. ``We just need to think we can run with
the best. We just need to believe that we can.''
Four of the five runners have experience running at the NCS meet, as the team qualified and ran well at last
year's competition. The only runner who didn't run last year -- Devin Lockert, then a football player -- has
worked hard to prepare himself for the championship.
``I'm like the little kid on the team,'' he said. ``It's been a rush. The others keep saying that they were
right here last year, the same story. This is new to me. I'm pretty nervous going into it.''
Devin, Sterling's twin brother, has enjoyed his share of the success this season. He has developed into the
team's third strongest runner and hopes to catch his brother in the future.
``We both ran cross-country in fifth grade, and I was faster back then,'' he said. ``I kept hearing about
all of his success and figured there was no reason I shouldn't be able to catch back up with him.''
While the boys go at it for distance supremacy, their coach is enjoying the ride.
``It's a joy to watch these guys,'' Lynch said. ``It's a real treat to have five guys who are this strong
and who are competitive and willing to push themselves to be the best they can be. I think each guy is improving
because of his brothers around him.''
The best is probably yet to come. Of the runners, the oldest is Yungert, a 16-year-old junior. The Lockerts,
Felipe and Stern are all 15-year-old sophomores, and have two more years of running before they graduate.
If the Trojans run well at the NCS meet, they will qualify for the state meet the following weekend in Fresno.
You can reach Correspondent Nathan Wright at 694-4053 or nwright01@gmail.com.