The "Run-Down": Columbia River/Mark Morris @ Round Lake

When we head to Round Lake in the summer time, we usually run A-Round the Lake for repeat 1.5 mile efforts. For our last league dual meet(s) of the season, we ran more of a horseshoe route – should we change the name of the lake? Probably not. Although the weather was downright perfect, there were enough twists and turns, splashes and steep inclines that P.R.’s were rare – we managed only 5 of them all day long. However, the one thing that did out-shine the weather was the special senior recognition presentation; the leadership and maturity that has been developed within our half-dozen seniors sparked many a joyful heart on this day! Here are the highlights of our race(s) against Columbia River and Mark Morris.

The first race of the day was the Future Varsity Boys. Freshman Nolan Johnson put forth a valiant effort to break up the scoring-five sweep from Columbia River. Although he feel short by a dozen seconds, he had one of our “Black Course” P.R.’s of the day (20:52). His classmate and training partner John Costa (21:19) had the only other one for any of the Panther boys on this day. We were definitely out-classed by the Columbia River team, but the Mark Morris team handed us a win as they could not field a full team to contend with us.

For the girls, it was almost a “Ho Hum” type of meet. Had we let Freshman Daya Sathyaraj compete (she was nursing her ankle sprain), it could have been a double digit win. Without her, we just needed to avoid major mistakes. We did, and we came up with a five point victory. Freshman Sydnee Boothby and Sophomore Savea Mansfield had a field day (no pun intended on Savea’s last name). They coasted in front of Columbia River’s top girl, the 2nd best freshman in the whole district. Senior Clara Best’s closing 250 meter finish around the grove produced the best excitement of the day (pun on her name was intended) as she narrowly missed their third runner after closing 40 meters on her. The Panther gals produced three “Black Course” P.R.’s solely from freshmen: Violet Hancock (26:06), Laura Wagner (31:02) and Ava Rana (31:07). Since Mark Morris could not field a full team and the Chieftains from C.R. were not strong enough to handle the Panthers, the girls finish the season undefeated in League Dual Meets and run their win streak to 10.

The competition for the boys was in a different category. The much improved Chieftains were much more than we bargained for as our top two returning runners from last year were not full strength. Senior Jackson Keyser proved he is still on the upswing, but still got edged out by their 3rd, 4th and 5th runners. Junior Jonathan Wells did step on the course for his first race in many moons, but it was a race that we will imagine did not exist for him as we know that he will bounce into form real soon. He did contribute to the win against Mark Morris by edging out their 3rd and 4th runners, securing a 6 point win for us against the Monarchs. Freshman Trey Keyser held off the 2nd Mark Morris runner to also have a significant impact on the score.

We do not have a race this weekend and we have a bye next week. So we are very eager to jump on an “Orange Course” and that is the plan for 10 days from now at the Warner Pacific Classic.

Coach Terry L. Howard

Line scores:

Varsity Boys		5000 M
Jackson	6^th	18:46
Trey	9^th	19:01
Jonathan	13^th	19:32
Hayden S.	15^th	19:33
Caden	17^th	19:38
Sam	18^th	19:44
Blake M.	20^th	19:53
Jacob	22^nd	20:29
Ted	23^rd	21:27
	of 23

Future Varsity
Nolan	6^th	20:52	P.R. Black
John	10^th	21:19	P.R. Black
Sage	15^th	21:30
Derek	19^th	21:59
Hayden B.	21^st	23:00
Fischer	22^nd	23:42
Blake S.	24^th	23:47
	of 35

Girls		5000 M
Sydnee	1^st	21:50
Savea	2^nd	22:13
Meryl	5^th	24:00
Clara	7^th	24:49
Lauren	11^th	26:03
Violet	12^th	26:06	P.R. Black
Kaylee	17^th	27:08
Laura	19^th	31:02	P.R. Black
Ava	20^th	31:07	P.R. Black
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