Ryan Schumacher is part of a Jesuit boys team that is ranked 14th in the nation. (Photo by Trasie Humble)

Jesuit coach Tom Rothenberger is employing a new approach to the end of the cross country season.

For years, Rothenberger said he wanted his teams to peak for the state championships first and foremost and that the Nike Cross regional and national meets would be viewed as a reward.

But the nature of cross country, for the country's best teams, has changed. In order to maximize respect among top tier programs, a berth at NXN and a strong finish carries considerable weight.

Rothenberger still wants to win state, but he also is devoting more time and effort to strategize and train his top seven boys and girls to reach higher in November and December.

"One of the challenges to running back to back races between state and the regional meet is how do you manage that physically and emotionally," Rothenberger said. "We're kind of rehearsing that with these two weeks."

Jesuit competed in the 13th annual Twilight Invitational in Marysville, Wash. last weekend. The Crusaders swept the team titles, with the boys putting four runners in the top seven of a race with 35 teams in the field. The girls put four in the top eight and scored 28 points.

This weekend, Jesuit is going to an even bigger event, the Hole In The Wall XC Invitational in Lakewood. The Jesuit boys, ranked No. 14 nationally, will take on Washington 4A champion Tahoma, among others.

Jesuit was already running strong, and undefeated, on the boys side. Junior Jack Bennett got his first hard race in last week, and ran 15:42, after missing most of September's meets with a muscle strain.

In the Northwest, Jesuit sits behind only Kamiakin of Kennewick, Wash., ranked No. 11.

With a pack that includes Ryan Schumacher, Sam Curran, John Schuler, Jonas Larson, Aidan Alexander, Declan O’Scannlain and Bennett, Jesuit has the ability to place five scoring runners across the finish line with a minimal 1-5 spread. At the Twilight Invitational, the compression was 27 seconds between the first and fifth scorer. That was down from 35 seconds at the Meriwether Invitational in Hillsboro on Sept. 20.

"We're doing some things differently to produce a high level of training," Rothenberger said. "We've undergone a re-set. (Assistant coach) Lucas (Rothenberger) and I took a hard look and revamped some things to create a culture of running at a high level consistently."

The Jesuit boys have been to nationals twice -- in 2004 and 2008.

The girls have qualified for nationals eight times, including 2017 and 2018. The current team is outside of the region's top-five, but that could change with a big result this weekend. The team has a dynamic 1-2 punch up front with sophomore Chloe Foerster and senior Alexis Kebbe leading the way, followed by twins Molly and Paige Grant. Foerster and Molly Grant went 1-2 in the 6A girls 800 meters final last spring. Freshman Maggie Bennett ran a 25-second PR that bodes well for the girls' pack.

Doug Binder is the editor of DyeStat.com