The "Run-Down": Mark Morris @ Kelso

Our last dual meet of the year, and quite possibly our favorite. The opponent was Mark Morris. The venue was a bit out of the ordinary. Kelso happened to be hosting Prairie on the same day and was gracious enough to add our team and the Monarchs to the guest list. The one adjustment we needed to make was that of the race distance, now just 2.90 miles for the long stand course at Highlander field. Another adjustment was the order of events, Future Varsity Boys first, then all girls and the grand finale was the Varsity Boys. The clear skies and well-marked course made it easy for the Panthers to negotiate the relatively flat course.

Since we were allowed to run 10 boys on Varsity, Freshman Warren Henderson got a chance to shine as our top Future Varsity performer. His third place finish easily translated to his first sub twenty 5K effort after appropriate adjustments. The only Panther that has a better day in terms of improvement was Junior Ryan Perkins. Although Ryan did not finish ahead of any competitors, he trailed a decent Kelso kid and ran equivalent to 90+ second PR. He was a happy camper that is quickly learning to race up to his potential. The FV boys managed a victorious team score against Mark Morris, but fell a bit shy of Kelso since we shifted some of our quality FV racers to the Varsity level that day.

For the girls, since school record holder Courtney Owens was still not back in the lineup, the coaching staff was scratching their heads trying to figure out how we could beat the Monarchs. The hypothesis on the bus was if the opponents were missing just one in their 2-3-4 pack of girls, the meet score should swing back in favor of the panthers. Upon arriving at the meet, we found out that was the case as they were missing #4. But we knew our girls still had to run well. Junior Hannah Swigert stayed steady with the league leader Isabel Buckingham through the first mile before settling in to second place, well ahead of anything Kelso or Prairie could through at her. Freshman Brooklyn Bausch made a valiant effort to reel in #2 and #3, both ranked ahead of her in league standings. She managed to close the gap to just 15 seconds at the finish line. But the real race to decide the meet was between Junior Lydia Lyall, Senior Meredith Collins and there #4 (normally their #5. The last mile, the two panthers took control of that race within a race, but as they hit the track for the last 300 meters, Meredith hand to find that extra energy to hold off the last ditch effort from the opponent. The final score: Panthers 28, Mark Morris 30. The Washougal girls win by a slight margin of two. The other noteworthy event that brought smile to the faces of the coaching staff was the smile on Junior Sonata Jensen-Meyer's face as she cruised through the course with an effective 2 minute PR!

For the boys, it was a bit scarier a bit longer through the race. With a mile to go in their race, the Panthers slipped into a 5 point deficit. The Monarchs were running 1-2-4 and their #4 was ahead of our #4. OUCH! Heroes are what we were looking for, and three of them are what we got. Junior Aiden Pullen managed to move up to second place (relative to Mark Morris - there was another Aiden in front of him from Kelso) while Freshman Troy Prince-Butterfield and Senior Collin Manning overtook Mark Morris #4, who was 40 meters ahead of them going into the last mile. Final Score for the boys was a narrow 28-29 posting!

The Panthers wrapped up the dual meet season in style and are well primed for the All-League championship meet next Thursday at Hudson's Bay High School.

Coach Terry L. Howard

Here are the line scores:

Varsity Boys		1 Mile	2 Miles	2.90 Miles
Aiden	3^rd	5:08		15:53.5
Bailey	6^th	5:00		16:02.8
Gabriel	7^th	5:10		16:10.8
Troy	12^th	5:33		16:45.4
Collin	14^th	5:34		16:50.6
Koy	18^th	5:33		17:08.0
Luke	20^th	5:39		17:20.0
Tanner	21^st	5:38		17:34.1
Ian	24^th	5:38		17:43.8
Jeffrey	29^th	5:42		18:22.2
	Of 32
Future Varsity Boys
Warren	3^rd	5:57		18:25.8
Andrew	18^th	6:31		19:53.6
Michael	21^st	6:49		20:30.9
Trent	22^nd	6:47		20:06.5
Preston	27^th	6:52		22:06
Ryan	29^th	7:50		23:32.5
	Of 29
Girls
Hannah	2^nd	6:01	12:32	18:59.8
Brooklyn	10^th	6:51	13:58	21:01.1
Annabelle	16^th	7:17		22:25.6
Signe	18^th	8:07?		23:09.9
Lydia	21^st	7:53?		23:45.1
Meredith	22^nd	8:05		23:59.9
Tabby	25^th	8:06		24:23.3
Abby	30^th	8:27		26:09.5
Sonata	31^st	8:25		26:18.5
Jeannine	33^rd	8:26		26:30.8
	Of 37