The "Run-Down": All-League @ Lewisville Park

Last week, the weather turned us color blind as our potentially “ultra-bright orange” course was dimmed to black. It was like watching a beautiful sunset in Charlie Chaplin black and white film from the 1920’sor 1930’s. As we approached Lewisville Park for this week’s race , we were hoping that some “Technicolor” technology would brighten our day (and our times). It has been several years since the Panthers raced at this location, but several “Top Ten” performances were established there in 2013. This time, the weather did brighten our vision of the course and our times approached the “cosmic orange” end of the color spectrum. In simple terms, WE HAD GREAT TIMES – in more ways than one.

The Future Varsity Boys placed 3rd of the 7 schools with 76 points. These Panthers were led by sophomore Jacob Streuli (18:48.6) who ran a P.R. but missed out on a top 5 ribbon by just a single place. The group of eight runners posted 5 P.R.’s and a near miss by less than a second (sophomore Hayden Brown at 21:05.1). The other four P.R.’s came from freshmen Nolan Johnson (19:09.0) and John Costa (19:49.0) along with sophomores Blake Scott (21:32.6) and Fischer Lees (21:32.9). Both Nolan and Blake crushed their previous bests by significantly more than a minute!!!

The Future Varsity girls managed to post the best percentage of P.R.’s for the day – they were a perfect 3 for 3. Freshman Lauren Filipczak (23:23.7) was awarded the third place ribbon after slicing just a few seconds more than a minute from her season opener 5K at Oregon City. ” Classmate Ava Rana broke 30 minutes for the second time, and was less than 5 seconds way from breaking 29 this time. But the biggest and best (probably ever a Panther at the All-League meet) P.R. was a Panther Impossible 3 minutes and two seconds that was unleashed by another freshman named Laura Wagner. The elation (and nearly a state of shock) that Laura experienced upon finding out she ran 27:22.8 erased the bitter disappointment that she experienced the prior week at Warner Pacific.

With the health of our boys’ team being in shambles several weeks before, there were three teams breathing down our necks, eager to threaten our potential State Meet birth to be earned next week. Those teams were Hockinson, Woodland and Mark Morris. Just prior to the Varsity Boys race, the Mark Morris coach optimistically inquired if our boys were finally ready to race to expectations. I responded with a cliché “we will see…”, but after the race, he came back with a resounding “YES – your guys are truly ready.” Of our top five runners, every single one of them moved up the “league ladder” with senior Jackson Keyser leading the way. His unexpected P.R of 16:27.8 moved him up to 5th place and into the number 8 slot on our All-Time Top 10 5K list. Junior Jonathan Wells jumped up to our number two runner, improving more than a minute over the week before. His respectable 17:04.6 was good enough for 19th place and was instrumental in pulling freshman Trey Keyser to a big P.R. in 17:06.3. Senior Caden Lowman countered with a largest week-to-week improvement in the group; his 17:27.4 was more than 90 seconds faster than his Warner Pacific performance. Classmate Hayden Stinchfield passed four Mark Morris runners (and a couple from other schools) in the last 1200 meters to help put a huge gap between our score and their score. Junior Ted West finally smashed his P.R.; his 18:26.1 was 34 seconds faster than his previous best from 2017. Although our 94 points was some 50 points from ranked teams Columbia River and Hockinson, the three other teams pursuing us were left in our dust in the 120’s and 130’s, scratching their heads trying to figure out how in the world they could get past us to qualify for state next week.

The Varstiy girls had a tough act to follow. Without senior Clara Best, even Coach Seekins had doubts we could outrun Ridgefield for our expected 2nd place. But two freshmen helped prove her wrong; a solid race from Clara’s racing partner Daya Sathyaraj and a huge P.R. from Violet Hancock were enough for the Panthers to edge out the Spudders by one point. This boosted our confidence in our chances of placing in the top 3 for districts next week, which is needed to qualify for state. Our other freshman in the race did not run a P.R., but Sydnee Boothby (19:28.1) easily cruised to 2nd place. A last second charge, literally, from sophomore Savea Mansfield (19:55.5) helped her squeak out a P.R. by less than a second (based on her converted time from Salt Creek). She predictably matched her 3rd place finish from last year. Junior Meryl Keeler (21:03.9) was a bit peaked and still placed 8th, which hinted that she could move up a few spots when totally rested. Senior Kaylee Timmons (24:22.5) also ran her best race of the season, placing right behind Violet as our “6th runner insurance policy.” When we put Clara back into the mix, we should give Tumwater more than they want to handle next week as we face off for the District Runner-Up trophy.

This day was definitely the best day of the season for the Panthers. One week from today we face a dozen other schools in our district at Lewis River Golf Course to see who moves on to Pasco.

Coach Terry L. Howard

Line scores:

Varsity Boys		5000 M
Jackson	5^th	16:27.8	P.R. - #8
Jonathan	19^th	17:04.6
Trey	21^st	17:06.3	P.R.
Caden	24^th	17:27.4
Hayden S.	25^th	17:30.1	P.R.
Ted	35^th	18:26.1	P.R.
	of 46

Future Varsity Boys
Jacob	6^th	18:48.6	P.R.
Nolan	13^th	19:09.0	P.R.
John	28^th	19:49.0	P.R.
Sage	36^th	20:20.6
Derek	38^th	20:22.3
Hayden B.	51^st	21:05.1
Blake S.	57^th	21:32.6	P.R.
Fischer	58^th	21:32.9	P.R.
	of 87

Varsity Girls		5000 M
Sydnee	2^nd	19:28.1
Savea	3^rd	19:55.5	P.R. - #5
Meryl	8^th	21:03.9
Daya	21^st	22:27.4
Violet	30^th	24:15.8	P.R.
Kaylee	31^st	24:22.5
	of 39

Future Varsity Girls
Lauren	3^rd	23:23.7	P.R.
Laura	16^th	27:22.8	P.R.
Ava	19^th	29:04.7	P.R.
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