The "Run-Down": R.A. Long and Woodland @ Home
Our first home meet of the year brought many familiar faces and many new faces to Cottonwood Beach to watch the Panthers run away from the Beavers and the Jack and Jills. It also brought the pre-race rain which kept the mosquitoes at bay. Taking on the challenge of our "slower than others" course, we set our focus on places, not times. Both our boys and girls teams were favorites to win, by a handful of points if no major surprises materialized.
First up, the girls. The strategy for the day was to play "man to man", or "woman to woman" in this case. After our hardest workout of the season this week, our legs were not as fresh as normal. So Junior Captain Kendall Utter had the assignment of dropping back and pacing our "T-Squad", Senior Taneal Tanner and Sophomore Tara Duey. Her mission was successful as the other two courageously ran well under a minute within last Saturday's time. On this the course, that stat is considered an accomplishment. Our lead trio went 3-4-5, with Tara moving up a slot on the team to second runner. Senior Brandi Sherman made major contribution with a 7th place finish, while the Panther Six Pack zeroed in on their target... R.A. Long girl #4! This six pack of black uniforms stalked their prey from behind most of the race, then moved 4 of them ahead of her coming down the homestretch loop. This target made a valiant attempt to pass back all four of them, and that would have almost evened the score, just one shy of a tie. Little did she know what kind of leg speed was in this pack, as sprinter types Sophomore Kaitlyn Johnson, Freshman Brooke Croeni and Sophomore Kari Johnson turned on the after burners and flew towards the finish, 2-4 seconds ahead of her. Kari's time of 27:46 was a life time P.R. by just 2 seconds, considering we toss out the suspect Bearcat course. However, it was the only P.R. of the day for the Panthers. The finishing kick from our speed demons gave the girls a 5 point buffer over R.A. Long regarding the team score. Woodland managed just one girl across the line, but rumor has it that their team will double in size soon. Senior Chloe Kilgore was the next closest Panther to a full-fledged P.R., only off by 7 seconds, posting a 27:50.
The boys race started out with a bit of chaos with 44 starting bodies. Most of the R.A. long runners rushed out to a fast start like the wild rabbits darting out of the brush. But by the mile mark, the panthers had chased down the said bunnies and had the team race under control. Despite a pedestrian 5:56 first mile, Senior Dylan Croeni still managed to squeeze out a supposed course record (I will check more records later) with a 17:12, eclipsing his buddy's time from last year, Mark Morris runner Chase Bussing at 17:18. Sophomore Sean Eustis cruised in to second place with an 18:21 with no one else around. Sophomore Isaac Stinchfield slipped to 4th after getting a little carried away on the first loop, but Junior Noah Collins, Sophomore Josh Banks and our pair of Frosh Mac Wright and Nick Stevens all found a way to run within about 40-50 seconds of last week and round out our top 7. But more impressive was Senior Michael Huck and Sophomore Darian Tierney as they ran within 27 and 18 seconds of last week's performance. Senior Drew Wilmoth also found a way to run within 60 seconds of his P.R. on a typical course. The virtual scoreboard showed the Panther guys winning 24 to 34 to 62 (Woodland had a complete boys team).
In our Sophomores vs. the World competition for the boys, the World lengthens their winning streak to 3 with a 2:06 victory.
When all was said and done, the Panthers waltzed on home with four W's, the sun started to peek back through the clouds and the mosquitoes started to look for warm blooded bodies to bit. It was the perfect time to leave.
In our Sophomores vs. the World competition for the boys, the World lengthens their winning streak to 3 with a 2:06 victory.
When all was said and done, the Panthers waltzed on home with four W's, the sun started to peek back through the clouds and the mosquitoes started to look for warm blooded bodies to bit. It was the perfect time to leave.
Next week, we travel to Hockinson to see if the Panthers can hunt down the Hawks.
Coach Terry L. Howard
Here are the line scores:
|
Varsity Boys |
|
Mile 1 |
Mile 2 |
5000 M |
|
|
Dylan |
1st |
5:56 |
11:30 |
17:12 |
*C.R. |
|
Sean |
2nd |
5:41 |
11:41 |
18:21 |
|
|
Isaac |
4th |
5:56 |
12:28 |
19:17 |
|
|
Noah |
6th |
6:04 |
12:31 |
19:28 |
|
|
Josh |
11th |
??? |
12:46 |
19:51 |
|
|
Mac |
12th |
6:22 |
12:48 |
20:03 |
|
|
Nick |
13th |
6:16 |
12:46 |
20:11 |
|
|
Michael |
16th |
6:36 |
13:30 |
20:51 |
|
|
Darian |
19rd |
6:56 |
13:53 |
21:31 |
|
|
Drew |
43rd |
7:22 |
14:45 |
22:31 |
|
|
|
of 43 |
|
|
|
|
|
Varsity Girls |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kendall |
3rd |
7:49 |
16:00 |
24:37 |
|
|
Taneal |
4th |
7:52 |
16:00 |
24:40 |
|
|
Tara |
5th |
7:52 |
16:00 |
24:44 |
|
|
Brandi |
7th |
8:44 |
17:32 |
26:48 |
|
|
Kaitlyn |
9th |
8:59 |
18:16 |
27:44 |
|
|
Brooke |
10th |
8:59 |
18:16 |
27:45 |
|
|
Kari |
11th |
8:59 |
18:16 |
27:46 |
P.R. |
|
Chloe |
13th |
8:59 |
18:06 |
27:50 |
|
|
Kelsey |
14th |
8:59 |
18:31 |
29:20 |
|
|
Laycee |
15th |
8:59 |
18:31 |
29:21 |
|
|
|
of 19 |
|
|
|
|