Wednesday afternoon, the 13 girls and nine boys on the South Whidbey cross country team were given their marching orders by Falcon coach Doug Fulton.

Uh, make that running orders — no one walks on this team.

“We’re doing a ‘35’ today,” Fulton explained. “Head down to the middle school, then follow the trails into the woods. Run a nice and easy pace for 20 minutes, then pick it up for another 15.”

After they disappeared into the dusky evening, Fulton said that the loss of several seniors in June will be tough to overcome.

“Even so, our girls team is ranked 10th in the state, about where they should be,” he said.

The girls team last went to the state finals in Pasco in 2007. In fact, South Whidbey girls have represented the school there 18 of the past 20 years.

The boys were there in 2004, though individual athletes have made the cut several times since.

The opposition, as usual, will be fierce.

“Top dogs in the league are Cedarcrest, King’s and Lakewood,” Fulton said. “We’re young, but we have talent we hope to develop and some great freshmen runners up from Langley Middle School.”

Fulton said that the annual cross country camp he and assistant coach Jay Freundlich run at Camp Casey was of great value, especially since most athletes were in pretty good shape after working out on their own during the summer.

“We had a record 10 girls finish the 10-mile run, and I was pleased to see that,” the coach said.

The four-day camp featured easy morning runs and lectures on nutrition, running form, building core strength and general fitness before going for a swim.

On the final day, there was a 1.5-kilomter time trail.

“Chantal White, Lillianna Stelling, Jessica Cary and Nora Felt all had excellent times,” Fulton said. “For the boys, Kevin Rookstool, Ben Saari, Blake Koszarek and Scott Warwick showed real promise.”

Serious runners McKenzie Walker and Emily Martin are trying to get in shape after suffering minor injuries.

In her third year, White is one of Fulton’s returning veterans.

“I do think I’ve improved and I know I feel a lot stronger,” she said.

White said her biggest problem is keeping to her strict running diet of whole grains, veggies and pasta.

“I work on it every day,” she said.

“The best part of being on this team is the bonding that’s forged with the other girls,” White added.

Much of that takes places at Camp Casey each year, as freshman Stelling discovered.

“The workouts are a lot harder than what we did as Cougars during track, but the team activities were great,” Stelling said. “I found myself getting in shape a lot faster. And I learned a lot of new things during the health lectures held each day, before and after a run.”

While proper diet and knowing first aid are all good, there was one concept that may have real value as the season progresses.

“I learned the importance of slow jogs versus running hard all out,” she said.

Fulton said that he alternates the team through tough hill climbs and long runs on the trails in Community Park, and then uses the off days to recover.

“You actually improve on recovery with a light workout,” he said.

Today, the team traveled to the mainland for the Edmonds Invite, and Fulton expects to have leaders emerge by day’s end.