The "Run-Down": District @ Lewis River Golf Course
When we jumped on the bus to head towards Lewis River Golf Course for the district meet, we know there was going to be three races for the Panthers. The Varsity Girls race, the Varsity Boys race and the race against the rain and wind. The storm front was expected to drastically change the weather about noon and the boys were scheduled to start the last race of the day at 11:30. Although the clouds were not letting lose any precipitation when we arrived, the course was soggy and sloppy from the previous days of rain.
As we followed the Tumwater bus the last mile or so to the golf course, the word of warning to the Panther racers not to follow the Thunderbirds on the course as their bus was misguiding us as it missed the last turn.
The girls started their race at 10:10, while the weather was calm with no signs of disruptions. Still missing school record holder and one of the pre-season individual favorites Junior Courtney Owens, the Panthers were relying on season best races from five or six of our girls. Junior Hannah Swigert, coming off of her best race ever, was undaunted the first half mile, running with the lead pack of a handful of quality runners. In fact, she confidently took a momentary lead as they crossed the bridge as dozens of spectators cheered them on. As she fell off the pace, she still finished in her second fastest time ever and the leads Panther in 6th place. Our pair of freshmen princesses (Annabelle Palmer and Brooklyn Bausch) where eyeing a perfect race to pace themselves to a top twenty place. They worked together to move up during the race and landed in the 25th and 26th slots at the finish, just enough for both of them to still earn Honorable Mention when dishing out all league honors. Foreign Exchange Student Signe Zacho ended up capturing a nice even 40th place and Senior Meredith Collins kicked passed four opponents to end up 48th. The final score was about where we were projected in the upper half, 6th place of the 13 teams.
For the boys, we lined up with our best seven, which this week included Freshman Gabriel Dinnel who sat out the week before. At the sound of the gun, a huge pack took off in a torrid pace. The blob of runners made things very interesting through the mile mark. The Panther boys patiently made their way through the pack as only a few runners fell off the pace. At the finish, Senior Bailey Duncan was the first Panther across the line. His 10th place finish broke his streak of placing 11th the previous two years, however he was over 20 seconds faster than last year. This is a true testament that our district has stepped up the pace this year (pun intended).
Next across the line for the Panthers was Junior Aiden Pullen. As we lost the exact count of the runners ahead of him at the finish, there was uncertainty for 15-20 minutes where or not he secured the final individual state qualifying position. When the verdict came in, Aiden was in the state meet. But the most memorable performance of the day came from Senior Collin Manning. The only Panther to run a PR on the sloppy course, he posted a significant one of 11 seconds. (17:32 in 28th place). Sophomore Tanner Lees passed runners left and right to post another solid panther performance. His 18:11 time was just 7 seconds off of his PR. However, considering the individual's circumstances, the voting for our biggest hero could easily elected Gabriel, who courageously kept putting one foot in front of the other despite the pain of the day. All Panthers knew that one of the most talented athletes out there was a victim of circumstances the last few weeks of the season.
The last race was that against the rain. We won that race too, as long as the finish line (or finish time) was before the awards ceremony. Some valiant Panthers had another transportation situation to address. This time is was not a bus, but a friend's car that was stuck in the mud that the Lees family managed to lend a few helping hands to get it back on the road. So to for any Panther that felt that they may have been stuck in the mud today, we head back on the road to success.
Coach Terry L. Howard
Here are the line scores:
|
Boys |
|
5000 M |
|
|
Bailey |
10th |
16:42 |
|
|
Aiden |
15th |
17:00 |
|
|
Collin |
28th |
17:32 |
|
|
Troy |
34th |
17:57 |
P.R. |
|
Koy |
41st |
18:10 |
|
|
Tanner |
42nd |
18:11 |
|
|
Gabriel |
64th |
19:22 |
|
|
|
Of 89 |
|
|
|
Girls |
|
|
|
|
Hannah |
6th |
20:16 |
|
|
Brooklyn |
25th |
22:14 |
|
|
Annabelle |
26th |
22:19 |
|
|
Signe |
40th |
23:37 |
|
|
Meredith |
48th |
24:18 |
|
|
Lydia |
55th |
24:31 |
|
|
Abby |
73rd |
28:21 |
|
|
|
Of 77 |
|
|