The "Run-Down": District @ Lewisville Park
For the second time in three years, Lewisville Park is the site of our District meet. This time it is void of the smaller schools, so only two races were on the docket: Boys, then Girls. Cooler weather and a threat of light rain brought the clouds around, but the big fir trees in the park kept the winds from including a significant chill factor. With our tent nestled in the trees, our boys were first to gear up their spikes and prepare to race.
With Tumwater being the strong favorite, three teams were scheduled to battle it out for the last two spots to Pasco, us along with Mark Morris and Capital. Hockinson was the dark horse for qualifying, but they did not post as fine of performances as last week when they needed to do better. Senior Thomas Normandeau was slated for a top 4 finish, and ran the first half of the race in that group. He slipped back to 7th(16:39.6), still ensuring a return trip to Pasco in 2013. Sophomore Bailey Duncan returned from being on the injured/reserve list. He joined Junior Nicolas Velardi, Sophomore Collin Manning and Freshman Aiden Pullen in the upper middle of the pack the first mile. His one mile split was perfect at 5:30. The other three were not far behind. But Bailey refused to slow down; he continued running perfect splits and kept finding opponents to pass. He was in 17th with a mile to go, and ended up 11th! His 16:56.9 was enough to join Thomas to race in the State meet 7 days later. Another stellar performance came from the legs of Nicolas; his 17:33.7 was a PR by a few seconds, and his high placing was enough to put a stunned look on his face as he claimed he got 23rd place. This was a pleasant surprise as he ran a substandard race the week before. Aiden's 18:04.9 fell a bit short of a PR, but his 33rd place finish gave him honors of being in the top three freshmen in the District, outkicking #4 by less than a second. Collin squeezed out a nice PR in 18:08 to be our important 5th runner. Senior Anthony Velardi moved up 18 places from last year's 57th place while Sophomore Luke Belzer racked up another PR in 18:18.8. When the scores were tallied, the Mark Morris crew got enough out of their 5th runner to place a solid second and the Panthers came up 8 points shy of Capital for the last ticket to Pasco.
The girls race has some pre-race anxiety as Senior Hannah Wright battled health issues when she woke up in the morning and could not hold down food or water. However, her frame of mind was focused on overcoming the circumstances, and put it all on the line for her team and herself, as he had been the most dedicated Panther this past 6 months. Little bits of honey and eventually some water gave her enough energy to perk up the look on her face as she warmed up and toed the line with her team. Considering her morning, she ran awesome - she finally broke her PR set 2 years earlier on this course! Teammates Sophomore Meredith Collins and Junior Karina Miller surrounded her most of the race, pulling a bit ahead of her in the end. They posted nice PR's as well. Their places were 22nd (Meredith), 24th and 26th with times all in the low 21's.
About a minute ahead of them was our lone lettering frosh this year chasing down an individual state berth and a school record. Courtney Owens amazingly got the latter without qualifying for Pasco. She slipped from 15th to 17th in the last mile. Her 20:20.4 was a great PR and new school record, but our District was a bit tougher compared to earlier years. Seniors Megan Anderson, Brooke Croeni and Sydney Hickey made it through the 5000 meter course for the Panthers to complete the team. Brooke ran a well-deserved PR just missing the honor of breaking the 23 minute barrier by less than a second.
Like the boys, the girls found themselves in 4th place, more than a hand full of points from qualifying. Each gender ran very good races. It just so happened that some of the teams ahead of them ran exceptional races this given day. Although 4th place is a tough result to swallow, the youngsters on the team that are returning appear to have that fire in their eyes and the dedication and determination to make great things happen next year!
Coach Terry L. Howard
Here are the line scores:
|
Varsity Boys |
|
Mile 1 |
Mile 2 |
5000 M |
|
|
Thomas |
7th |
5:04 |
10:20 |
16:38.6 |
|
|
Bailey |
11th |
5:30 |
11:28 |
16:56.8 |
P.R. |
|
Nicolas |
23rd |
5:31 |
11:40 |
17:33.7 |
P.R. |
|
Aiden |
33rd |
5:34 |
11:28 |
18:04.9 |
|
|
Collin |
35th |
5:32 |
11:43 |
18:08.0 |
P.R. |
|
Anthony |
39th |
5:42 |
11:53 |
18:14.5 |
|
|
Luke |
42nd |
5:45 |
12:18 |
18:18.8 |
P.R. |
|
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of 84 |
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Varsity Girls |
|
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Courtney |
17th |
6:15 |
13:35 |
20:20.4 |
P.R. |
|
Meredith |
22nd |
6:40 |
13:42 |
21:11.5 |
P.R. |
|
Karina |
24th |
6:42 |
13:44 |
21:14.1 |
P.R. |
|
Hannah |
26th |
6:41 |
13:45 |
21:20.8 |
P.R. |
|
Megan |
39th |
6:55 |
14:33 |
22:55.5 |
|
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Brooke |
40th |
7:15 |
14:54 |
23:00.7 |
P.R. |
|
Sydney |
44th |
7:10 |
14:53 |
23:11.8 |
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of 64 |
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