Ian Myjer was a step ahead of Garrett Rowe, but Smith didn't want to root for one of his runners over another. He instead implored them to catch four runners just ahead of them. Myjer and Rowe blew past them, and Myjer held off Rowe by a second to finish seventh in the championship race, covering the 3.1-mile Woodward Park Course in Fresno in 15 minutes, 17 seconds.
Watching Spartans runners push each other to new heights has become the norm for Smith, in his third year coaching Mountain View's boys and girls teams. Both are ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section by the Mercury News. There are a combined 70 runners out for the sport this year.
"I try to watch other sports like soccer and volleyball and do a little recruiting," said Smith, a Mountain View math teacher. "Right now we have a lot of talent on both teams, but to be successful at cross-country, you need to have a lot of work ethic, and these kids have that."
The Spartans boys also got excellent runs from Parker Schuh (15:43), Neil Lingarkar (16:19) and Bryan Crook (16:37) to finish fourth as a team, setting a CCS team record of 1:19:14 on the same course that is used for the state championship.
For the girls, senior Mary Reynolds ran the 3.1-mile loop in 18:11 to finish fifth in the championship race, helping lead the Spartans to the team title. Allison Sturges (18:43), Kristine Talbot (19:01), Zoe Pappas (19:07) and Alex Westbrook (19:16) contributed on the winning team time of 1:34:18.
Rowe, the CCS Division II runner-up last year, has worked through some knee problems but is starting to feel healthy.
"Running with Ian every day at practice is a challenge and I think it's good for both of us,'' said Rowe, who like Myjer is a junior. "We ran together at Clovis, then in that last 100 yards we were battling down to the wire.''
Myjer agrees that his teammate is helping him reach his potential.
"Garrett puts in so much training and when he is hurting, he will never give up. I'm the same way,'' Myjer said. "Running by yourself can be monotonous, but being a part of this team you are doing something different every day. Everyone is dedicated to being as fast as they can be.''
The girls team is the defending CCS Division II champion and Reynolds is hoping to improve upon her fifth-place finish from a year ago.
"Our biggest goal is to finish in the top two at state,'' Reynolds said. "This team is so much fun to be a part of. It's like a big family."