The "Run-Down": Ultimook XC Race

This year's trip to Tillamook started a bit different than last year. Last year: Vans. This year: Bus. Last year: Just High School. This year: Include Middle School. Last year: Rain greeted us on arrival. This year: Very warm and sunny - with a near full moon shining bright after sundown.

As morning came, the Panther XC runners woke up eager to take on the challenge of the mud pit, river crossings and hill of the Ultimook XC Race. First up was the Middle School Girls where 8^th Graders in Amelia Pullen and Annabelle Palmer got to show us how hard they worked all summer long, both improving greatly and placing in the top ten of 102. For our 7^th Graders, Morgan Stinchfield was just over a minute behind in 29^th place, Emma Speath in 66^th and Jessica Troyer a few steps behind in 68^th. 8^th Grader Olivia Ringo courageously chased down over 20 runners after giving them a 3 minute advantage in the mud pit while she was finding her shoe. But out best little surprise in this race was 8^th grader Hallie Morris who found a way to be one of our scoring 5 (fourth on the team) and was a major factor in the Panthers taking home the 3^rd place trophy from this race.

The next race was our MS Boys as they packed an impressive 3 runners into the top 5 of 92 racers. 8^th Graders Gabriel Dinnel and Koy Chaston (2^nd and 4^th) were joined by 7^th Grader Andres Magana (5^th and the first 7^th grader). Solid performances by 8^th graders Warren Henderson (24^th) and Ian Palmer (26^th) secured the big win for the Panthers. There were 8 full teams and a hand full of incomplete teams. The supporting cast of young Panther Boys ran well: Trent Lowe (31^st), Andrew McElhaney (32^nd), Dillion Tuite (36^th), Troy Prince-Butterfield (37^th), Eli Hoyt (40^th) and Hayden Stinchfield (83^rd). It is worth noting that Troy had to look around for one of his shoes before borrowing one from Jonathan Snapp to finish the race after the mud pit. He vowed to make sure he will place in our scoring 5 next week. What a great way for us to start the second season ever for the Panther Middle School Program!

Freshman Amber Habkick bravely started our Highs School season off by running solo in the Novice Race - just 3000 Meters. It still contained the mud pit and the river crossings. She managed to run a fine race and squeeze out a smile after finishing. We entered three boys in the "Future Varsity" race - for all three it was the first XC race of their life. Freshmen Jonathan Snapp and Bryson Schurman were led by Sophomore sprinter Evan Hoff, who made it look like he knew what he was doing. Evan squeaked a smile as he plowed through the mud and wound up in 34^th place of 95. Jonathan landed smack-dab in the middle (48^th) in the field at the finish line while Bryson claimed 62^nd place. Since we only had 3 runners, no team placing was awarded to us.

For the next race, Senior team captain Karina Miller found 3 sophomores and one freshman to join her on the starting line in pursuit of mud, water, hills and the finish line (all in that order). Only one of the four had any varsity experience prior to today. First time XC racer Freshman Jeannine Jones ran a steady race over the challenging course to ensure we got a team score - we finished 10^th of the 35 + complete and incomplete varsity teams. Another Panther stepping up to the line for her first XC race was Sophomore Hannah Lintala. She cracked the 26 minute barrier (a fine time on this course) and finished in the upper quarter of the participants. Sophomore Lydia Lyall overcame some knee pain to finish in a solid position to help the team out. Karina finished over a minute faster than last year's race to bring a smile to her face. Even though all of them had something to smile about, the biggest smile of the day form this squad was on Sophomore Courtney Owens. She managed to find her way on the podium with a top ten finish with a fabulous final surge at the finish line. Her time was nearly 3 minutes faster than last year in her XC debut.

Our boys were missing a few key runners, but still had aspirations of a trophy finish (just top 3 this year). Sophomore Aiden Pullen led the way, showing that dedication to training is the way to improve from being the 8^th best freshman last year to the 4^th best sophomore this year. Being the only Aiden in the whole meet, he started making a name for himself moving from 50^th last year to 14^th, improving almost 2 full minutes. Not too far behind was Senior team captain Nicolas Velardi, managing to break 20 minutes by a mere tenth of a second. He bounced back from sub-standard tempo run on Tuesday and ran a respectable race capturing 20^th place. Junior Bailey Duncan truly struggled with a very untypical first mile, but refused to let down his teammates and managed to pass 20 or so runners the last two miles to ensure the boys placing a solid 6^th. Sophomore's Gabe Groom (running in his first Varsity race), Alex Flansburg (his first XC race ever) and Junior Luke Belzer completed the team, each thankful they did not lose any shoes in the mud pit.

After refreshing ourselves in the river and at with Tillamook Ice Cream at the Cheese Factory, we returned to the scorching heat at home, being very thankful we were able to race in much more moderate weather near the coast.

Next week, we go the opposite direction - to Hood River on Thursday, to face a half a dozen or so teams of similar caliber. It should be very interesting out there.

Coach Terry L. Howard

Here are the line scores:

Varsity Boys		5000 M
Aiden	14^th	19:24.3
Nicolas	20^th	19:59.9
Bailey	22^nd	20:07.2
Luke	78^th	20:38.5
Alex	83^rd	22:46.5
Gabe	114^th	24:04.9
	of 195

Future Varsity Boys
Evan	34^th	25:43.9
Jonathan	48^th	27:04.5
Bryson	62^nd	27:51.6
	of 129

Varsity Girls
Courtney	10^th	23:47.5
Hannah	36^th	25:55.5
Karina	67^th	27:31.4
Lydia	101^st	30:06.8
Jeannine	143^rd	35:08.7
	of 143

Novice Girls - 3,000 M
Amber	65^th	20:00.0
	of 73