Winning lineage

The first time Jon Knight recognized the distance running potential of his cousin, Nick Atwood, the two were on a mountain hike together.

“We backpacked up an 8,000-foot peak in Montana and I was not in bad shape,” the North Central cross country coach recalled. “Nick was literally running away from me. I think that really encouraged him to get into running.”

That was back when Atwood was in elementary school. And though the first cousins are some 24 years apart in age it marked the genesis of a common thread apart from their lineage.

Knight’s mother, Kay, and Atwood’s father, also Jon, are sister and brother.

Knight was a two-time state runner-up for back-to-back Ferris championship teams in 1980 and 81. He placed fourth as a sophomore.

Today, nearly a quarter of a century later, Atwood is terrorizing his cousin as one of the Greater Spokane League’s top runners for 3A rival East Valley.

The two schools met right off the bat on Wednesday to open the GSL season. They will again contend for three 3A eastern regional state berths in November.

Ferris, like the 1980-81 teams, has won the last two state titles, and with last year’s runner-up Mead, are this year’s GSL and 4A state favorites.

Last year Knight-coached North Central finished second in the State 3A meet in Pasco. EV was third and Atwood, the regional champion, was 10th, behind NC state seventh placer Andrew Scott, a junior this year.

“It’s kind of hard coaching my runners to beat my cousin,” said Knight, adding that his loyalties come first to the Indians. “Of course I always have a sentimental interest in how Nick does.”

That interest goes beyond sentimental. Atwood has attended NC’s summer camp for years and this summer set the four-mile race course record by 15 seconds.

It was an indication of how serious Atwood has become about his avocation. He trained hard during the summer, including runs at altitude while on vacation in Colorado, and said he is giving up basketball this winter to focus on track.

“Last spring I was really hoping to help my team at state and felt I didn’t do good enough,” Atwood said.

He was also disappointed in his finish in state cross country given his victories at regional over a pair of NC runners, including a 15-second advantage over Scott.

“I felt I kind of let myself down at state,” Atwood said. “It was the first time I’d ever been at anything that big and just got overexcited and kind of freaked out.”

Atwood said he went out too fast, panicked and, lacking a finishing sprint, was passed by several runners near the end of the race.

“I’m known for having just a horrible kick,” he said. “I worked on my kick (this) summer and am getting faster in my last mile.”

Atwood’s dad – who, said Knight, became his surrogate father when his own died from a brain tumor 20 years ago – competed in marathons for fun and interested his son in running. Atwood discovered he had an aptitude for it and East Valley coach Dave McCarty noticed.

Atwood arrived at EV during a time the Knights were struggling to compete as a recent newcomer in the rugged GSL.

“Right in the middle of our toughest few years in the GSL he held his own,” said McCarty.

Last year the Knights would surprise the GSL and Atwood burst onto the scene with his junior class victory at the Shadle Park Highlander Invitational.

But the disappointing state cross country showing and slower than anticipated track times strengthened his resolve.

“I’m not going to say we have a state champion,” McCarty said, “but he has the potential. I’d be disappointed if he’s not in the top five at state.”

“It’s going to be a fun year, I think,” Atwood said.