Stacked senior class has Iowa City High boys’ cross country aiming high

IOWA CITY — Jayme Skay has a theory, both unconventional and intriguing:

The faster the assistant coaches, the faster the runners.

“What changed the program is that we’ve got assistants that can run with them,” said Skay, in his 25th year as the Iowa City High boys’ cross country coach.

Take, for example, Ross Salinas, an assistant since 2008. If he was on the team, he probably would make the varsity.

Salinas, by the way, is in his early 40s.

City’s top four, though, are probably out of Salinas’ league these days. Out of just about everybody’s league, come to think of it.

Seniors Ford Washburn, Ammon Smith, Noah Carey and Truman Thompson give City High, maybe, the best four-man nucleus in the state.

“We have four really strong runners, then we have a bunch of dudes new (to the varsity),” Thompson said.

The Little Hawks finished third in the Class 4A boys’ race last year, behind West Des Moines Dowling and Sioux City North.

Washburn placed fourth individually, in 15 minutes, 32 seconds. Smith (16:06) was 11th, Carey (16:34) 28th, Thompson (16:35) 29th.

They highlight a program-altering senior class. Salinas pointed out that “probably 20 of our top 25 guys” are 12th-graders, and Skay added:

“This senior class changed the attitude. This group has matured so much.

“Ford has matured a lot. He’ll gulp a water down after a long run, then he’ll be jogging back, cheering every single kid.”

Washburn moved to Iowa City from Albuquerque, N.M., in eighth grade. He didn’t take long to make an impact.

“I ran 10 total miles over the summer. I showed up at practice and ran 19:20 (at our time trial),” he said. “It seemed I dropped 30 seconds every meet, then ran 16:10 at state.”

Now he’s looking at a historic conclusion to his high school career.

“I’m not sure how important times are, but I want to go under 15 minutes at state,” he said. “That would be sick.”

And it would probably be enough to win an individual state crown, though Dowling’s Jackson Heidesch also is capable of flirting with the 15-minute mark.

Washburn completed a 4-mile road race this summer in 20:10. So he’s already in top form.

Smith is “working to get his fitness back” while dealing with turf toe, according to Salinas, and hopes to continue his career next year, perhaps at one of the military service academies.

Add Thompson and Carey, the latter of whom said, “I hope all four of us can finish in the top 15” at state, and the Little Hawks are set, 1 through 4.

But you need a fifth, and the staff thinks they have that, and more.

“I don’t think we just have a No. 5. We have a 5, a 6 and a 7,” Skay said, naming seniors Braden Marker and Owen VanderLinden and junior Owyn Noble.

Skay said that his team will train through most of its regular-season meets — “We’re going to have tired legs at a lot or races” — in an effort to peak in late October.

The Little Hawks won seven state championships between 1992 and 2000, and are pursuing their first title since.

“After 2 miles (last year), we were in second place, a point behind Dowling,” Salinas said. “We were right there.

“We hope to get back to that spot, and close it out a little better.”

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