Dennis Brinson has a couple of goals in mind - both short term and long term - coming into his new assignment as head cross country coach at Carson High School.
As for the short term goal, he wants to see competitive boys and girls squads that have a shot at qualifying to run at the 4A state championships in November. As for the long term, he likes to emphasize cross country running as a lifetime sport.
"I don't want them to end up hating running," said Brinson, a 1975 Carson High graduate who played tennis for the Senators and has been a familiar sight in Carson City's running community for more than two decades. "We want them to compete, but at the same time, I'm hoping to impart a lifestyle that you can run for the rest of your life."
And if all goes well, the next 10 weeks will work out nicely for the Senators. The Senators open their season Sept. 3 with a meet at Spanish Springs. Among the key points on the schedule will be a trip to the prestigious Stanford Invitational on Sept. 25, the Carson Invitational on Oct. 8 at Western Nevada Community College and the Northern 4A Regional meet at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno on Oc.t 28. The top two teams at the regional meet will qualify for the state championships on Nov. 6 in Boulder City. Two teams and five individuals from non-qualifying teams will run at state.
"We want to keep them healthy and have them running their best at the end of the season when it really counts," Brinson said. "We want to be top two at regionals, or at least be there in contention."
Carson's girls finished fourth and the boys sixth at last year's regional meet.
The top returning individuals are junior Annie Brinson, who finished 12th at the regional and 31st at the state meet last year, and senior Patty Capistrant, who finished 13th at the regional and missed qualifying for state by one place. Capistrant finished as the second woman overall this past Saturday at the Cross Country Cup with a time of 25 minutes, 54 seconds over a highly-challenging 5-kilometer course at Western Nevada Community College.
Amanda Benson, Kristin Neddenriep, Meagan Meyer, Andrea Keirstead and Samantha Pitts also return for the Senators, joined by talented sophomore Hannah Works plus freshmen Christa Casci, Christy Works and Gloria Sosa.
"If everybody stays healthy, I think our girls are looking pretty good," Brinson said, adding that two-time defending state champion Reno will again be the team to beat.
Seniors Shelby Moulden and Ryan Turner, along with sophomore Chad Shroy are the leading returnees for the boys. Shroy finished 28th to lead Carson's boys at the regional meet last year and placed third overall with a 20:19 effort in the Cross Country Cup on Saturday.
Tyler Bourns, Doug Holderman, Anthony Stewart, Ahron Osherhoff, Sam and Greg Saunders supply depth to the team, along freshmen Scott Wandel, Caleb Carter and Tyler Davies supply depth.
"The kids ran well for their first of 13 races this fall," Brinson said of Saturday's race. "We have a solid group of both boys and girls and I feel that the team is capable of some excellent results this year."
Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1214