Boys cross country: Ahlbeck trying to go the distance

RENTON — Sam Ahlbeck used to be comfortable on a baseball diamond or on 100 yards of football turf.

Today, open spaces, hills and uneven terrain are his playground.

Baseball and football were the focus of the Lindbergh High School student as a freshman. Now a senior, Ahlbeck has blossomed into one of the state's top cross-country runners.

"He doesn't have a football body, that's for sure," Lindbergh cross-country coach Jef Rettmann said of the 5-foot-8, 130-pound Ahlbeck. "He's got a runner's build."

Ahlbeck's strong work ethic could produce a rewarding payoff tomorrow in the state championships at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. He is one of the top five favorites in the Class 3A boys race, scheduled to start at 2 p.m. The first of 10 races for boys and girls begins with the wheelchair race at 10 a.m. and finishes with the Class 4A boys race at 2:30 p.m.

Ahlbeck said 2003 Lindbergh graduates Eric Haley and Joel Purcell persuaded him to run in an all-comer's meet in Edmonds the summer before his sophomore year.

"I ran a two-mile at the all-comer's meet and ended up like seventh," Ahlbeck said. "I ran a 10:30 or 10:40, and those guys were saying that's a really good time for someone who hasn't run before.

"They kind of sucked me in. Plus, I wasn't that great of a football player. I'm a little guy. At 5-8, 130, those aren't great dimensions for football."

Rettmann knew about Ahlbeck's running potential.

"I could tell as an eighth-grader that he had a ton of talent," Rettmann said. "He ran a 5:08 mile in eighth grade, and I knew he was a kid I wanted to recruit for track and cross country.

"Other guys on the (cross country) team kept tracking him down and he turned out."

Ahlbeck, who was seventh at state last season, worked hard in the offseason.

"This summer, for the first time, he really applied himself," Rettmann said. "He averaged 40 miles a week for about 500 miles total in the summer. That's a really solid summer's worth of work. He's a more solid runner, in part, more because he's more confident. But he's also more fit."

The Eagles' top runner finished the 3.1-mile state-meet course last year in 16 minutes, 3 seconds — 12 seconds behind Mercer Island junior Brian Govier's winning time of 15:51.

Last year's 2-3-4-5-6 finishers all graduated. Ahlbeck, Govier, Kelso senior Chris Rodriguez (12th in 2003, 16:18), Selah junior Gary Lorance (10th in 2003, 16:15) and Seattle Prep sophomore Max O'Donoghue-McDonald are the favorites this year. Govier was upset by O'Donoghue-McDonald for the Sea-King 3A District title.

Ahlbeck's determination makes him tough to beat.

"If someone beats him, they deserve to because he's not going to give it to you," Rettmann said.

Said Ahlbeck: "I think I just have that competitive gene that's given to people and I got 10 of them. All my friends know not to go talk to me before I race."

His father, Jay Ahlbeck, gave his son with a credo that fits his competitive personality perfectly.

"He tells me, 'In anything you do in life, the person who will win is the person who wants it the most.' " "I take that to my workouts. I'd like to know I'm training harder than anybody in the state.

"That's what (teammate) Andy Dean and I tell ourselves. I just want to go out and absolutely smash guys."