From Back Of The Pack U-Hi’s Berry Has Surprised Himself And Others With Dramatic Improvement

James Berry’s start in the University High School cross country start was not promising, even though he loved to run.

While most freshmen ran in the junior varsity all-league meet, Berry, then a ninth-grader at Horizon Junior High, was relegated to the freshman race.

“He was very young, an eighth-grader in the freshman program, basically,” recalled U-Hi coach Bob Barbero. “We sent him off to the freshman race, and said, ‘Goodbye. We probably won’t seem him again.”’

This year the slight, bespectacled Titan senior, hair flowing in a pony tail while he runs, has positioned himself in company with the school’s all-time best.

In his first meet this year, at Liberty Lake County Park, Berry set a course record that had withstood for 11 years the challenge by numerous Valley distance luminaries.

The next week he won the Highlander Invitational at Shadle Park, beating several runners whose district times last year surpassed his 36th-place finish.

Berry stumbled a bit Wednesday against eight-time state champion Mead, finishing fifth, including behind teammate Seth Mott, a junior.

Early strategy cost him dearly during the tough, up-hill finish.

“I went out too hard and paid the price for it,” he said.

Chalk it up to youth, said Barbero. Berry turned 17 on June 12.

“Once he is physically matured,” said Barbero, “he’ll be a runner. He’s just growing and getting better.”

Following the ignominious start his ninth grade year, Berry has improved dramatically each season. He was U-Hi’s No. 3 cross country runner as a sophomore.

Last year he ran No. 2 behind currently injured T.J. Sulzle, improving his end-of-season district race time by half a minute over the previous year.

But it wasn’t until last spring, when he ran a 9:37 3,200 meter time that Berry understood his promise.

“I just felt I needed to be running with the top guys,” he said. “Towards the end of track I knew I had the talent to be with them if I put in the training.”

Between his birthday and this year’s first cross country meet he logged 850 miles. The contrast in times was stark. Where Berry had run 17:21 in the All Valley meet as a junior, this year he improved astronomically to 15:47.

“It was a surprise to me,” he said.

Now Berry said he believes he can qualify for and be a high finisher at state.

Berry began running at Horizon, “because I thought it would be something fun to do,” he said. “Mr. (Paul) Marshall made it fun and I came to love it.”

The combination of ardor and hard work has produced gratifying results for Berry and University’s boys cross country team, which is one of several hoping to join Mead in the race for state.

Sulzle is a week or two away from rejoining the team and the Titans were also without Mike Visintainer for Wednesday’s GSL season opener.

With the trio of Berry, Mott and Sulzle racing each other to be University’s top Titan the season can only get better.

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