Entering his 20th year of coaching cross country at Redmond High, head coach Denis Villeneuve has seen his fair share of amazingly talented runners.

Many of them have gone through the program in just the past few years, with Sarah Lord and Devin McMahon on the girls’ side and runners like Aiden Irish, Mack Young and Will Young for the boys squad.

While the team may not have that superstar runner of years past, Villeneuve said his young team has tons of potential, starting with his No. 1 runner on the boys’ team, senior Miles Hille, who was running in the shadows of Mack and Will last year.

“Miles is looking great,” said Villeneuve, adding that he won the season-opening Kingco Preview Meet at Lincoln Park last week. “His time was eight seconds slower than Mack Young’s tie in 2009 … he has high goals and if he can stay healthy, he should do well.”

Hille said that he has put in a lot of work during the offseason, running as many as 50 miles a week and 10 a day on occasion.

“I just had a fantastic Kingco meet, had a personal best in it, and that actually felt easy,” Hille admitted, adding that he has his sights set on the top 10 at state. “I’m really excited for the year … I’ve really tried to lengthen my endurance.”

The rest of the boys’ side is looking especially solid, as four boys who were in the top 18 in Kingco all return, and the pivotal No. 5 spot will most likely be filled by incoming freshman Zach Kirwan.

“We’re feeling pretty optimistic,” Villeneuve commented.

On the girls’ side, the 2010 season should allow for last year’s runners to step up and have breakout years, and they will need to after the graduation of McMahon, who finished third at the 4A state meet last fall and now runs at Cornell University.

“We graduated a bunch again … we’ve got Kelsey Dunn, a freshman who looks real good, and Lila Rice, a transfer from Seattle Academy,” Villeneuve said. “Those two make us a lot stronger. Holly Young is our fastest returning girl, and then Jenna Sanders and Allie Nichols.”

The acquisition of Rice may prove to be huge for the Mustangs, as she placed second at the 1A state championships last year, and gives the Mustangs a solid top five. And Dunn finished first on the team at the Kingco Preview meet, running her first high school cross country meet 20:08.

And for those kids who don’t have those real fast times yet, what is the key to seeing improvement throughout the season?

“I’ve learned how to get these kids ready,” the longtime coach said. “The veteran runners are being really good about educating the younger runners about following the coaching program. It will just take some time, you need experience and to learn some pacing, and all that. If they can stay healthy and get some races under their belt, then they will start to see that improvement.”

If the Mustangs improve as expected throughout their 2010 campaign, don’t be surprised to see them make a threat at at the state meet at Sun Willows Golf Club in November.

“We want to try and get as high as we can at Kingco, go to districts and qualify for state (as a team),” said Villeneuve on his team goals. “If you can get in the top four at state you get a trophy, and that’s always our goal. It seems like we can get to state again if we’re healthy and working well.”