Oak Harbor’s brothers four

It takes a special kind of person to be a cross country runner.

Unlike flat tracks where competitors know there are regulated curves and straightaways and the distance is always consistent, cross country runners deal with hills and dales, uneven terrain and varying distances at each meet they run in.

To have brothers running on the same team is rare but when you have two sets of brothers, particularly those with the talents of the King boys and the Nydam twins on the same team, it is truly something special.

Senior Kyle King is the most experienced of the quartet, while Alex and Steve Nydam, also seniors, are in their second year of cross country competition.

The “baby” of the group, freshman Tyler King, is no less talented than his three upperclass teammates.

Kyle King finished in 35th place at last year’s class 4A state cross country meet in Pasco and was class 1A state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter events last year running on the track team at Coupeville High School where he attends classes.

Right now, King said he is planning on continuing his running career at college and is currently looking at several schools.

“I haven’t made a decision yet, but I’m considering the University of Montana, Eastern Washington, the University of Portland and the University of Washington,” he said. “All that is down the road a ways. Right now, my goal is to go back to the state cross country meet.”

Tyler is continuing the family tradition of being a runner.

“My brother pretty much had all the influence in getting me into running,” he said. “I ran track in junior high school in Coupeville and my older sister ran for Oak Harbor when she was in high school.”

Another bonus to the King brothers is their father, Randy, who is Coupeville’s track coach.

“Yeah, I’d say that definitely helps,” Tyler said with a smile.

As for the Nydam brothers from Oak Harbor High School, cross country is a fairly a new experience for both of them.

“We both did track our freshman year, that was all right,” Steve said. “We didn’t have a lot of fun because we were pretty bad runners.”

Alex said they decided to try running cross country last year when they were both juniors.

“A lot of our friends were doing this sport and they pretty much talked us into it,” he said.

Alex said his goal is also to make it to the state cross country meet.

“Beyond that, I have no immediate plans about what I’d like to do after graduation,” he said.

On the other hand, brother Steve has some definite goals set for himself.

“I want to go to a technical

school and study construction,” he said. “Later on, I’d like to open my own construction company here in the Pacific Northwest.”

Cross country running takes talent, perseverance and a lot of heart, and the Oak Harbor team has four brothers who are true competitors and let it all hang out every time the gun goes off at the start of a race.

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