With this fall being my first official prep season as a sports writer, I must admit that the task of keeping up with and establishing contacts for all 13 teams I had to cover this fall for the Redmond Reporter (which included Redmond High, Overlake and Bear Creek) seemed quite daunting.

But once the ball got rolling, it was extremely rewarding to make it out to games, meets and matches for all three programs and watch some of the state’s finest high school athletes achieve excellence.

New to the local high school sports scene, it was also great fun getting a chance to talk with coaches and the players themselves, who are so passionate and dedicated to their sport.

Along the way there were certainly many surprises – teams and individuals that for one reason or another had a breakout year or outstanding individual performance that I feel deserve to be recognized once again for their efforts.

While it was nearly impossible to narrow this list down to just five, allow me to reminisce on some of the great stories we had in Redmond for the fall sports season.

1. Mack Young wins Class 4A State cross country meet.

After Young ran the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 5 seconds at the 2007 4A state meet in Pasco as a sophomore, which earned him a 46th-place finish, not too many would have been able to predict his incredible performance in the 2008 cross-country postseason.

He spent most of the season in the shadow of senior teammate Aiden Irish; in fact, finishing second to him no fewer than six times this season at Kingco and invitational meets while staying around the 16-minute mark for his runs.

Young then returned to a familiar site for the 4A Kingco meet, Seattle’s Lincoln Park, where he ran a season-best 15:40 at the Kingco Preview Meet on Sept. 11. The junior had a breakthrough race, finishing second to Irish, with both athletes posting their career-best times. At 15:29, Young was six seconds behind Irish at 15:23.

Finally the 4A state meet came around at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco, and it represented a changing of the guard. Running in his final cross-country race, Irish finished ninth at 15:47, while Young used a killer kick in the last 800 meters to win the program’s first ever gold medal at state with a blistering 15:18, edging Central Kitsap standout Shane Moskowitz by three seconds.

Already owning the second-fastest time in state history, the sky’s the limit for the hard working, talented young runner who will be anxious to put on an encore performance next year as the defending state champion.

2. Redmond swim team places third at 4A state meet.

It got loud at the cavernous King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, and for good reason, as state record after state record fell at one of the fastest state swim meets ever recorded.

Yet, the Mustangs were still able to keep up with the likes of perennial favorites Garfield, Ballard and Jackson to take third and bring home a trophy representing the highest finish in school history.

Shortly after Jackson’s Amber McDermott obliterated a 16-year-old state record in the grueling 500 free, recording a superhuman time of 4:41.98 (the old record was 4:50.92), fans were treated to one of the best races of the meet between three evenly matched swimmers in the 100 breaststroke. Garfield’s Maddy Morgan, defending champion Emily Ferreira of Snohomish and Redmond’s Heather Harper all qualified for the finals within .56 seconds of each other.

In the end, it was Harper who uncorked a thrilling come-from behind win, passing Ferreira in the last 20 yards and hitting the wall at the exact same instant as Morgan, tying for the gold with an automatic All-American time of 1:40.60.

The Mustangs had been improving their times all season and everything came to a head during the state meet. The 200 medley and 400 free relay teams posted season-best times. Harper busted onto the state scene with a phenomenal performance. And seniors Maureen Cardwell and Becca Wyant both earned a pair of top eight individual finishes.

3. Overlake girls soccer team makes deep postseason run.

The Overlake girls soccer team had experience on their side this year with four returning all-league players and two senior captains – midfielder Christine Eaton and Alex Boit – who led by example.

The team actually got off to a slow start defensively this season, as the Owls gave up 16 goals during a seven-game stretch at the beginning of the year, uncharacteristic of the program and goalkeeper Ceci Votta, who had nine shutouts last season.

Like all great teams, however, the Owls amped up their defense when it counted the most. Votta and the Owl defense worked together for an incredible four straight shutouts during the postseason in defeating Port Townsend, Charles Wright Academy, Orting and Columbia (White Salmon), often in difficult wet and windy conditions.

Their stellar efforts propelled the team into the state quarterfinals, where they were finally ousted by a tough King’s School squad 3-0. Check out the video on our Web site at redmond-reporter.com. Overlake finished the season with a record of 14-7-1.

Overlake’s amazing run was the program’s best finish in the state tournament since 2001, when they lost to Cedar Park Christian School in the state title game.

4. Bear Creek’s Katie Wolfram first volleyball player to be recruited.

There are defining moments not only in an individual’s prep career, but also in the history of a sports program.

For the Bear Creek Grizzlies’ volleyball team, the best player in the history of the program, outside hitter Katie Wolfram, will never be forgotten.

Wolfram became the first player from The Bear Creek School ever to get recruited to play volleyball at the college level.

The 5-foot-10 senior, selected as a first-team all-league player in her junior year, shined once again for the Grizzlies during her senior campaign as she slammed home a team-leading 123 kills in 12 regular-season games to go along with 32 service aces.

The Grizzlies, who finished with an overall record of 14-4, had a great year in the Sea-Tac 2B league going 12-2 before losing twice at the district tournament to bow out of the postseason.

5. Cameron Sandquist breaks school records.

In a season of tough breaks and near misses for the Redmond Mustang football team, senior wide receiver Cameron Sandquist did the program proud in his final year.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound athlete, whom head coach Mike Pluschke described as a “sure-handed receiver with good speed” with the ability to “run great routes,” set a new school mark for Mustang receivers by recording 66 receptions and 940 yards in nine games this season.

His talent was on full display during the Mustangs’ game against Eastlake back in September, when he shattered a 10-year-old school record with a 15-reception, 244-yard night.

But perhaps more significantly for Sandquist and his team, fellow wide receiver John Martino came down awkwardly on a leaping catch just as the fourth quarter started, suffering a season-ending torn knee ligament.

That meant Sandquist, who worked extremely well with Martino as targets for starting quarterback David Gilbertson, would have to carry the receiving load for the rest of the season.

He did not disappoint.

Sandquist caught laser beams from Gilbertson for the rest of the year, and even ended the season in style with a 12-reception, 209-yard effort against Lake Washington for Redmond’s second win, including a 45-yard touchdown grab.

As hoopsters take to the hardwood, wrestlers dust off the mats, gymnasts get limber and swimmers warm up in the pool, one can only wonder what stories will develop and which athletes will shine as the winter sports season gets underway.

If you happen to run into any coaches from the fall sports season, be sure to thank them for all of their time and hard work they’ve put in to make their teams the best they could be.

They deserve it!