Sophomore Ginger Murnieks, left, and junior Kaylee Mitchell, cross country runners, stand for a portrait at Sprague High School in Salem on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
A year ago Ginger Murnieks and Kaylee Mitchell were complete strangers on paths that were completely distant.
And until this time a year ago neither had run cross country.
Last fall Murnieks was a home-schooled student and life-long soccer player who decided to give cross country a try in her off hours from soccer during her freshman season at Sprague High.
Mitchell was a standout middle distance runner in track and field who decided to try cross country in her sophomore year at Astoria.
Now they’re teammates at Sprague who are dedicated to running cross country and have the potential to be dominant runners.
“As a coach, it’s a pretty nice spot to be in with two legitimate No. 1 runners on your team,” coach Tom Jimenez said. “It was a fun thing to watch them run together this summer. They just feed off each other.”
That Murnieks competed in cross country as a freshman was something of an anomaly.
She was a part-time starter at midfield for Sprague’s soccer team as a freshman and practiced almost exclusively with the soccer team.
Murnieks competed in track and field while in middle school and thought she would like to try cross country so she competed in a few meets.
That she placed second at the Greater Valley Conference district track and field meet and 14th at the 6A state meet was extraordinary considering she barely practiced the sport.
“It was pretty tough and I would get kind of stressed out because I wanted to be running more, too,” Murnieks said. “I was trying to do both. But it was really fun. I really enjoyed soccer and met a lot of really good people, but this year I just decided that I want to focus on cross country and do all of their practices.”
Sophomore Ginger Murnieks, a cross country runner, stands for a portrait at Sprague High School in Salem on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
Murnieks continued to play club soccer in the spring of her freshman year while also competing in track, but an injury in April prematurely ended her track and field season.
She decided to focus exclusively on cross country this fall and with 100 percent focus.
“I’m probably out of soccer,” she said. “I don’t know. I’m most likely out of soccer.”
Mitchell is similarly inexperienced in cross country.
She placed seventh in the Cowapa League’s district meet as a sophomore last season.
But in track and field, Mitchell has done a lot.
Mitchell placed second at the Class 4A state meet in the 800 meters and 1,500 in both of her first two seasons of high school and ran on the Fishermen’s state championship 400 relay team as a sophomore.
Junior Kaylee Mitchell, a cross country runner, stands for a portrait at Sprague High School in Salem on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
Mitchell became fast friends with Murnieks when she moved to Salem this summer.
“I think she’s just a little shy, maybe, at first, but I really like her so I was new here and she was really the first friend that I had when I came here,” Mitchell said.
Sprague placed a close third in the GVC district meet last year behind South Salem, but has the depth to compete for the conference title.
The Olympians return sophomores Elise Abbott and Ellie Stuart, who placed 11th and 15th in the district last year.
“We have a really good team,” Abbott said. “We got Kaylee, which is awesome so now we have a bunch of really fast girls, and Ellie (Stuart), I run with her a lot. Last year we ran together and pushed each other. I think the girls are all really fast. They’re supportive and happy.”
But having the combination of Mitchell and Murnieks training together and executing race strategy at the front of packs should give everyone else in the conference reason for pause.
“It’s going to be great because she’s just awesome and I love running together,” Murnieks said. “We can go on long runs together all the time, and I’m really excited for when we start racing because I think we’ll be able to help each other in the races.
“I’m excited to see how the whole team does because I think we’re going to be able to do real well this year.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
Boys cross country
Greater Valley Conference
McKay
Coach: Jason Zellick, fourth year.
Last year’s district: Sixth.
Key athletes: Juan Heredia, So.: The team’s top district placer as a freshman last season, he finished in 18:04.
Outlook: The Royal Scots are young this season.
McNary
Coach: Kyle Rose, first year.
Last year’s district: Eighth.
Key athletes: Jonas Honeyman, Jr.,: The team’s top returner who placed 48th in the GVC last season.
Outlook: The Celtics return three district placers from last season’s team.
North Salem
Coach: Don Berger, 13th year, and Michael Hermann, third year.
Last year’s district: Fourth.
Key athletes: Francisco Perez-Ramos, Sr.: The team’s top runner last year, he placed 27th in the district meet last year. Nestor Centeno Flores, Sr.: The returning varsity captain who was the team’s No. 4 runner last season.
Outlook: The Vikings have a couple returning seniors from last year’s fourth-place team along with a core group of sophomore and juniors that should keep the team in the top half of the conference.
South Salem
Coach: Alisha Murdoch, fifth year.
Last year’s district: Fifth.
Key athletes: Jay Grant, So.: The team’s top runner at the district meet as a freshman, he placed 19th in the district.
Outlook: The Saxons graduated a strong senior class, but feature a strong group of underclassmen.
Sprague
Coach: Tom Jimenez, 17th year.
Last year’s district: Seventh.
Key athletes: Jake Donnellan, Sr.: One of Sprague’s top track and field runners last spring.
Outlook: The Olympians has two seniors and six underclassmen along with a big team..
West Salem
Coach: Rick Fordney, first year.
Last year’s district: GVC district champions.
Key athletes: Ahmed Muhumed, Sr.: Last year’s Class 6A state championship is going to be hard to beat this year. Fabian Elizondo Jr.: Placed eighth in the district as a sophomore.
Outlook: The Titans are the favorite to repeat as district champions.
Also in the GVC
Forest Grove: The Vikings return two of the top 10 runners in the league from last season and will be West Salem’s greatest challenge to the league title.
McMinnville: The Grizzlies have the top freshman in the league from last season in sophomore Zane Fodge.
West Albany: The Bulldogs return four runners from last year’s district team.
Mid-Willamette Conference: Corvallis is the defending district champion and has a strong group of upperclassmen this season. Woodburn senior Gustavo Lopez is the top returner from last year’s district meet.
Oregon West Conference: Newport, Philomath and Yamhill-Carlton will contend for the league championship. Stayton returns state qualifier Casey Pugh and Cascade returns state runner Nate Lack.
3A/2A/1A Special District 2: Horizon Christian and Taft were the top two teams in the league last season, and neither team graduated any runners. Kennedy returns Noe Jines, who placed ninth in the conference last year, and has some young runners including Nick Riedman and Luke Hall who will keep the team towards the top of the league.
3A/2A/1A Special District 3: Jefferson returns state runner-up Hassan Ibrahim and will be tough to beat this season. Salem Academy returns two of the top 20 runners from the conference in senior Davis McHugh (seventh) and Sam Kenyon (18th).
Girls cross country
McKay
Coach: Jason Zellick, fourth year.
Last year’s district: Fifth.
Key athletes: Hanna Caldwell, So..: Showed great promise as a freshman by placing 19th at the district meet.
Outlook: The Royal Scots are going to be young this season.
McNary
Coach: Kyle Rose, first year.
Last year’s district: Ninth.
Key athletes: Kailey Doutt, Jr.: Placed fifth in the district meet the past two years and is a two-time state meet qualifier.
Outlook: The team is still trying to develop depth, but Doutt is one of the top runners in the conference.
North Salem
Coach: Don Berger, 13th year, and Michael Hermann, third year.
Last year’s district: Sixth.
Key athletes: Madison Willhoft, Jr.: Has places of second and fourth in the district meet and 13th and 17th in the state meet in her two years of high school, making her one of the top runners in the state. Julissa Escobedo, Jr.: Placed 20th in the district meet as a sophomore and will be one of the team’s top runners this season.
Outlook: The team returns district competitors in Willhoft, Escobedo, Emma Haburn, Abigail Swain and Divinity Rodriguez and has the potential to compete for a team state team berth in the next few years.
South Salem
Coach: Alisha Murdoch, fifth year.
Last year’s district: Second.
Key athletes: Anna Chau, So.: The GVC district champion who placed fourth in the state as a freshman.
Outlook: The Saxons were a close second in the district tournament last year and have the depth to challenge for the conference championship again.
Sprague
Coach: Tom Jimenez, 17th year.
Last year’s district: Third.
Key athletes: Ginger Murnieks, So.: Placed a surprising second in the district cross country meet as a freshman and 14th at the state meet and will be a contender for the top spot in the conference this season. Kaylee Mitchell, Jr.: A transfer from Astoria where she was the state runner-up in the 1,500 and 3,000 and a state champion in the 400 relay.
Outlook: The Olympians return three runs in the top 15 in the district last year and will be a contender for the conference title.
West Salem
Coach: Rick Fordney, first year.
Last year’s district: Seventh.
Key athletes: Jaden Mandal, So.: Placed seventh at the district meet as a freshman last season.
Outlook: The Titans are young this season, but expect the team to move up in district placing.
Also in the GVC
Forest Grove: The Vikings won the district championship last season and didn’t graduate a runner off that team.
McMinnville: Ally Legard placed 10th in the district as a junior last year.
West Albany: The Bulldogs will try to move up in the league.
Mid-Willamette Conference: Corvallis has a strong sophomore class that will contend to the district title again, but Lebanon has some strong runners. Central returns two of the top five runners in the conference in Bailie Hartford and Abby McBeth.
Oregon West Conference: Philomath is the defending team champion, but Cascade returns its top four runners in Lizzie Mack, Savanna Waters, Kalulu Ngaida and Adriane Bergerson and will challenge for the top spot.
3A/2A/1A Special District 2: Kennedy dominated the conference last year and returns three of the top four of the top 10 runners from last year’s district meet in Kaylin Cantu (first), Alejandra Lopez (second), Clarissa Traeger (fifth) and Ysenia Gomez (10th).
3A/2A/1A Special District 3: Nestucca and East Linn return deep teams that placed in the top two in the league a year ago. Salem Academy returns sophomore Sarah Kenyon, who placed 13th in the league as a freshman.