The "Run-Down": R.A. Long
Lake Sacajawea. Not the ideal spectator course…unless you are a participant in the middle of the pack. Then it is a scenic loop around a well-maintained park in Longview that can produce some very nice times.
With another XC meet in progress at the same time and on the same course, there was a bit more confusion than usual, but pretty much limited to pre-race concerns on who are competition was. The Middle School race for both meets (the other one was Mark Morris vs. Hockinson) was merged into one competition. The was beneficial for eighth grader Gavin Keyser as a future Mark Morris athlete had him on the ropes until the last 50 meters, when the Keyser Kick kicked in. Gavin had to run his best to win his first race. Younger brother Trey Keyser was another bright spot from that family as he moved up to runner #3 on the team. Seventh grader Blake Mattern ran a standard race as our solid second runner in 4th place while classmate Alex Holden and eighth grader Ricky Pierce moved up in the pack to run with our inspirational spark plug eighth grader Will Gunn. They took places 8 through 10 (not in that order though). The boys blasted the Three Rivers Christian team by a score of 19 to 44.
The girls race blended in with the boys. 16 Panthers had only 5 opponents and they dominated taking the first 6 places. Eighth grader Abigail Wall made up for the lost shoe trick she pulled at Tillamook by being the first girl across the finish line. She was followed by our trio of seventh graders in this order: Sydnee Boothby, Sparky Warta and Chloe Johnson. Eighth grader Paige Maas looked super strong finishing in 5th while classmate Lillian Mucha was ecstatic with her 6th place finish, 10 seconds ahead of the first opponent. Classmate Mary Lendvoyi was in hot pursuit of that top opponent, but fell just 4 seconds shy in her impressive performance. Another classmate Tanalee Newton fared much better than at Tillamook as she placed 15th of the 21 girls on the course. And seventh grader Katie Zillman verified she wants to make an impact on the team as she moved up several places on the team.
At the high school level, we had just one boys race. Three Rivers Christian joined R.A. Long and the Panthers. Juniors Gabriel Dinnel and Troy Prince-Butterfield picked up 2nd and 3rd to “break even” in the scoring up front, while the team win was secured by the Panthers picking up six of the next seven places after R.A. Long’s 2nd runner. Panther P.R.s in that group came from junior Ian Palmer and sophomore Caden Lowman. Other “Orange Course” P.R.s (in other words, not considering those that only ran at Tillamook prior to today) came from junior Andrew McElhaney and sophomores Hayden Stinchfield and Derek Lawton. Freshman Jonathan Wells made the varsity squad in his high school XC debut by placing 6th on the team. The boys score was a comfortable 24-35 victory, pushing our league winning streak to nine meets.
The Panthers needed a bit more competition to bring out the very best of themselves in the girls race. However, as usual, Junior Amelia Pullen still pushed her own limits even though she won by nearly 2 and a half minutes. Her time of 19:35 is the second fasted 5K performance by a Panther girl ever, and she leads the 2A state rankings. That margin of victory is most likely the largest ever by a Panther of either gender! Team wise, we captured eight of the top 9 places, with the highlighted P.R. coming from senior Alexis Maniscalco, as she confidently secured a varsity spot for next week with a 35 second lifetime best. With respect to the team score, the Panther girls obliterated the Jills 19-44, incrementing their league winning streak to eight meets.
Next week, we might race in Hood River. The Eagle Creek fire has caused many outdoor activities to be canceled, but the rain we expect early next week will flush the smoke out of the air so we can travel up the gorge, and face Ridgefield as our dual meet competitors in the process.
Coach Terry L. Howard
Here are the line scores:
|
Boys |
|
5000 M |
|
|
Gabriel |
2nd |
16:35 |
|
|
Troy |
3rd |
17:23 |
|
|
Ian |
6th |
17:58 |
P.R. |
|
Tanner Lees |
7th |
18:15 |
|
|
Jackson |
9th |
18:24 |
|
|
Jonathan |
10th |
18:28 |
|
|
Caden |
11th |
19:03 |
P.R. |
|
Koy |
12th |
19:13 |
|
|
Warren |
14th |
19:26 |
|
|
Andrew |
15th |
19:30 |
P.R. |
|
Sam |
16th |
19:42 |
|
|
Andres |
19th |
20:04 |
|
|
Tanner Coltrane |
21st |
20:36 |
|
|
Hayden |
22nd |
20:40 |
P.R. |
|
Ethan |
23rd |
20:40.2 |
|
|
Derek |
25th |
21:21 |
P.R. |
|
Ted |
28th |
21:44 |
|
|
Trent |
33rd |
23:06 |
|
|
Carson |
36th |
24:12 |
|
|
Brett |
37th |
24:44 |
|
|
Maddox |
38th |
24:46 |
|
|
Quinn |
39th |
27:36 |
|
|
|
of 40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Varsity Girls |
|
5000 M |
|
|
Amelia |
1st |
19:35 |
C.R.? |
|
Brooklyn |
3rd |
22:04 |
|
|
Meryl |
4th |
22:25 |
|
|
Morgan |
5th |
23:08 |
|
|
Alexis |
6th |
23:27 |
P.R. |
|
Annabelle |
7th |
24:00 |
|
|
Kaylee |
8th |
24:03 |
|
|
Bekah |
9th |
24:20 |
|
|
Grace |
13th |
28:53 |
|
|
Denise |
14th |
29:06 |
|
|
|
of 17 |
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