Northwest Review 6

  Pack at Danner by Jeff Maxwell

     There was plenty of action in the region as well as the nation, as many times and individuals begin to gear up towards state meets with an eye to preparing for post season events like Foot Locker.   Alaska, however, is always well ahead of the nation and last weekend marked end of most of their running, because the State meet was held.   The times are relative here for the Bartlett Trails are notoriously difficult including a formidable hill, which was made even more difficult by considerable rain.   Runners were certainly forced to deal with the elements beyond the normal, as they also battled with each other.

         After last year’s bout with hypothermia there was significant expectation as to how Allie Ostrander would fare this year.  She had once again dominated during the season getting even national attention but naturally the state meet is a different affair.   The Kenai runner went out early but once again had problems late in the race.   In some way it was reminiscent of the World Junior meet two decades ago, when Melody Fairchild raced the Africans, who had escaped her vision.  Melody thought she was in the lead until late, when she finally spotted her opponents but by then it was too late.   Ostrander had moved out of vision until late and then Audrey Michaelson closed within vision.   Once again it was a bit too late, although Audrey was certainly gaining but Ostrander found the reserve to persevere and crossed the line for a victory in 18:46.  Michaelson of Colony garnered second in 18:52 and even aided her opponent in the chute before Ostrander was taken to the medical area.  Third went to Lathrop’s Brooke Lizotte, who ran 19:18, while Meagan Kubichek, her team mate, followed in fourth in 19:29.  Rachel Roelle of West Anchorage placed fifth in 19:29.   Peggy Mathis of Wasilla earned seventh behind Grace Graham of East Anchorage but had the satisfaction of knowing that she had led her squad to the team title with a low of 74 points to East Anchorage’s 83.   Taylee Nyquest of Thorne Bay swept the 3A title in a time of 19:33, as Grace Christian continued its stranglehold over that divisional crown.

      The boys’ 4A race came down to a match between Kodiak runners Levi Thomet and Cole Christensen.  The pair have taken the top two spots in a number of meets with Levi usually getting the nod and Saturday it was no different with Thomet running 16:11 and Christensen following in 16:18.  A look back at the records shows how rare it has been for two runners from the same team go 1 – 2.   Peter Noon of West Valley placed third in 16:34 but his team copped the title by 49 to 54 margin over Service, while Kodiak was third in 59.  Tal Norvel of Juneau-Douglas claimed fourth in 16:39 and Gilly Szweda-Mittelstadt of Service garnered fifth (16:40).   Tristan Sayre of West Valley came in sixth & Julian McCarthy of Kodiak was seventh.    The boys’ 3A race came down to a struggle between Arlen Mossgrove of Glenallen and Miles Knotek of Seward with Arlen crossing the finish line a second before his rival in 16:55.   Service, of course, won the boys’ team title again.

                                                                                Stanford

        We have been singing the praises of Amy-Eloise Neale of Glacier Peak and Katie Knight as well, for four years and Alexa Efraimson of Camas for the past two years.  Saturday in Palo Alto they took matters in their own hands, when they took on a strong field of Californians as well as Colorado’s Jordyn Colter.   Amy rolled to a convincing victory in 16:52 and Alexa placed second in 17:04.   Colter from Cherry Creek followed a second later and Julia Maxwell, a Californian, who placed 18th at Foot Locker West last fall, took fourth in 17:25.   Elise Cranny followed in fifth with 17:36 and then Katie Bianchini Neale’s team mate, garnered third with 17:51.  Fiona O’Keeffe from Davis Senior in California secured seventh with 17:56.   Sydney Bodger of Centennial, Vanessa Estrada of Hollister, Danielle Voyles of Rancho Bernardo & Katie Gorczyca of Branson rounded out the top eleven .   Alissa Pudlitske of Camas (18:36)raced well and placed 13th.   Other Northwest runners of note were Daryl Phill of Bellarmine (20th), Elle Kallgren of Jesuit (29th), Maddie Woodson of Camas (33rd), Dylan Hite (37th) & Megan Mullaney (44th) of Jesuit.

       Estevan De La Rosa of Arcadia upheld California’s honor by taking the men’s title in 15:06 by Sumner Goodwin of Lewis & Clark was only three seconds back.  Yohaness  Estifanos of Milpitas earned third with 15:13 & John Lawson of Drake was fourth.   Aaron Roe of Henry Jackson is but a sophomore but he placed tenth & Andrew Forder of Nathan Hale was right behind in eleventh (15:38).   Olympia’s Peter Kesting, another sophomore, placed 16th in 15:48.   Andrew Duffy (39th) & Tucker Boyd (46th) also were in the top fifty in this large field as were Nathan Hale runners Stuart Smith & Abebe Ferede.    Arcadia won the boys’ team title easily with 83 points but Nathan Hale was a surprising second with 181.

(Thanks Jeff Maxwell)

 

                                                                Jim Dancer Championship Races

       Portland Meadows was the sight of the Danner races, which were the main features of the Nike Pre-National meet and Anna Maxwell of California’s San Lorenzo Valley returned the favor from Stanford by dominating the girls’ race.   A fairly large pack stayed with the Foot Locker National finalist early including Paige Rice of St. Mary’s Academy and Jordan McPhee of Mt. Rainier.   Always in the hunt, as well, were South Eugene’s pair of Sara Tsai & Erin Clark.   The mile was reached in 5:38 with little change but Maxwell opened a gap prior to the two mile mark, which was passed in 11:25.   McPhee, another Foot Locker finalist, remained in contact but did not appear sharp – probably because this was only her second test and her main focus is basketball, but she, like Rice, yielded ground late.    Maxwell went through the 4K in 14:11 and by that time she held and eight second margin over Clark & Tsai, while McPhee came through in 14:28.  Others still in the hunt were Paige Rice, who hit the 4k in 14:37 and Chandler Olson of Woodinville, who notched 14:48.   Although Tsai pulled away late from Clark and even picked up a bit down the stretch, Maxwell was not to be denied and she cruised across the line in 17:37.  Tsai came in six seconds later and Erin Clark followed in third with 17:46.  Grant freshman Ella Donaghu earned 4th in 17:52 and Maggie Schmaedick of Sheldon was a strong fifth with 17:56.  Jordan McPhee faded but held off Sunset’s Charlotte Corless with both being credited with 18:11.  Nicole Griffiths, also from Sunset, was 8th in 18:12 and Lindsey Bradley of Richland took ninth in 18:18.  The valiant Rice was tenth with 18:19 and Parkes Kendrick of Grant was eleventh with 18:20.   Piper Donaghu of Grant ran 18:32 for 12th to finish a second ahead of MaryKate McGuire of Dallas.   Sehome ’s Emily Pittis (18:34) finished 14th with 18:34 and Chandler Olson was 15th in 18:36.   Paige Dilmore of Rocky Mountain secured 17th and had the honor of being the top female from Idaho. 

        In the guys’ race a pack of four, which included Wolfgang Beck of Gig harbor, Elijah Armstrong of Pocatello, Jackson Darland of Sheldon and Mark Tedder of Battle Ground, went through the mile in 4:55.  By the 2K in 6:09 the lead pack was five runners with a second pack of four or so another five to seven meters back.   Idaho sophomore Elijah Greer handled the pacing duties during the middle part of the race but was joined by Beck around the two mile mark, which was reached in 9:56.  Beck drew away about a half mile late and went to a comfortable victory in 15:16.   Armstrong, who had an off day last weekend at the Firman Meet placing sixth (such are his off-days it seems), followed along in second in 15:28.  Mark Tedder appeared to have third place until Jackson Darland swept by late to nip him for third with both being credited with 15:30.   Nathan Wadhwani from British Columbia’s Terry Fox, secured fifth in 15:41 and was followed a second later by Beaverton’s Dan Oekerman.   Nick Obletz of Oregon Episcopal continues that he can compete with runners from much larger schools by taking seventh in 17:43 and Jonathan Stevens of Redmond edged Jose Macias of Hermiston with both getting 15:44.   Tenth went to Sehome ’s Conner Johnson, who ran 15:47, as he finished two seconds ahead of Justin Ross of Rocky Mountain, who in turn held a three second advantage over defending 6A Oregon champion Kyle Thompson of Central Catholic.  Drew Schreiber of Eisenhower garnered 13th with 15:54 and was followed by Reed Henderson of Sehome & Isaac Stinchfield of Washougal.  Colby Gilbert ran 15:58 to make it four Washington runners in a row and then Eduardo Juarez placed 17th for Hermiston.  Tristan Peloquin added an 18th place finish for Gig Harbor.  Kevin Mathews and David Cornish rounded out the top twenty.  

       In other girls’ races Cassie McKinney of Union ran 18:54 and Taryn Rawlings of Wilsonville was second in 19:05.   Hazel Carr of The Northwest School in Seattle scored in the Division II race with 18:59, while Skyview’s Sara Tafere was fifth in 20:03.

Danner  (TY Jeff Maxwell)

        In the aftermath of the races it should be noted that the course on which the runners trod on Saturday will have little in common with what they’ll find come December.  Be advised the mud will be more than just oozing and in fact has been so bad, that two former reporters came dressed in gear more appropriate for fly fishing.   Happily this one almost never wears pants or socks, so the damage for me was minimal.   On a more serious side Anna Maxwell had been dealing with a cold even prior to the race and was not at full strength, yet she was most impressive.   Two of her team mates were also a bit sick.   Just wait until they are all healthy.

                                                https://or.milesplit.com/articles/93421-danner-pre-national-races

 

 

                                                                Mountain West

       Although it is not normally covered with the other Northwest states Andrew Gardner of Mead certainly gave it a local flavor, and he stormed to a course record of 14:25.   He broke his own record on the course, while he showed how bogus the rankings are by dominating a solid field.   The two-time Foot Locker National Finalist topped Adam Peterman of Hellgate, who had been second at Flathead, and Troy Fraley of Glacier.   Peterman ‘s time of 14:33 was actually under Gardner’s old record and Troy’s time was 14:45.  John Dressel of Mt. Spokane ran a solid fourth with 14:51 as he topped highly regarded Zach Perrin of Flathead, who was timed in 14:58.   Makena Morley of Bigfork continues to show that she’s ready for a return to Foot Locker after her record time 17:07.  Paige Gilchrist of Hellgate ran a fine 17:31 yet was well behind.  Third went to Caroline Hardin of Bozeman with 17:52.   Christina Aragon’s time of 17:56 was only good for fourth but she was the last of the young ladies, who could say she broke eighteen.

 

                                                                        Montesano

     Aberdeen’s Poli Baltazar ran away from the field with his mark of 16:14.   Tyson Lovell of Montesano was second with 16:51.  Gabrielle Rudolph of Montesano ran 19:50 and was the only girl to break twenty.

 

 

                                                                                Pasco

     Megan Beauchene of Kamiakin claimed her second victory of the year, Hanford was the other, by annexing this meet.   Her time of 18:52 gave her a five second margin over Sanne Holland of Cheney.  Michelle Fletcher of Kamiakin was third with 19:13, while Southridge ’s  Emily Kump placed 4th followed by Angela Knishka of Cashmere was fifth in 19:56.   Austin Oser made it a Kamiakin sweep by running to victory in 16:18.  Seth Deal of Waitsburg-Prescott ran 16:29 to take second and was followed by Jeevan Phillip of Hanford, who ran 16:38.   Skyler Larson of Tri-Cities Prep edged Kamiakin ‘s Cameron Glade with both clocked in 16:42.  Kamiakin won both varsity team races with the boys topping Tri-Cities 50 to 78, while the girls trounced their challengers with a low of 28 with Southridge being next with 72.

                                                                            Twilight XC Invitational

This meet  in Marysville produced some impressive times with the 15:24 by Keegan Symmes of Skyline topping the list.  Michael Mendenhall of Inglemoor ran a swift 15:35 and Sam Giner of Interlake came in at 15:45 for third.  Jack Griffing of Edmonds=Woodway edged Jack Griffing of Bothell for 4th with both credited with 15:45.  Stephen Bottoms of Onalaska clocked 15:45 in the 1-2A race, while Nehemiah Barrett of Franklin Pierce earned 2nd in 15:59.  Sally Larson of Cedar park Christian had the fastest time for the girls with her effort of 18:09 in the small-school division in spite of winning by over a minute.  Kyra Burke of Inglemoor and Andrea Masterson of Lakeside had a good duel with Burke earning the victory by three seconds with 18:16. 

 

                                                                                Bellingham City Meet

       Brittany Gappa of Squalicum sped away from the field, while Emily Pittis in turn left everyone else.  Gappa finished the 2.6 mile course in 15:16 and Pittis covered the territory in 15:42.  Rebekah Oviat of Sehome placed third in 16:16 and Bekah Jensen of Bellingham was 4th with 16:18.  Sehome runners took the first two places, as Conner Johnson (13:05) & Reed Henderson (13:08) led the way.  Joe Charbonneau of Bellingham finisher third with 13:11.  

      https://wa.milesplit.com/articles/93121-sehome-tops-squalicum-bellingham

 

                                                                                Curtis Invitational

    Sofia Kane of Olympia topped the girls with 18:18 and McKenzi Bravo of Peninsula ran 18:45 to place second.   Peninsula won the girls’ team race with 79 points and Ballard won the boys’ with 111.   Spike Sievert of Bellevue left the guys with his 15:43 and his team mate Kyle Pratt finished 2nd in 16:13.

                                                                                Henley Invitational

     Todd Delaney of Mazama won Tuesday meet in Klamath Falls with 16:51 and Ellen Sampson of Mount Shasta ran 21:08 to top the girls. 

                                                                                Jefferson Invitational

   Another Tuesday meet with Dalton Susee of Kennedy ran 17:25 and Bedria Williams of Creswell (20:45) were the male & female winners.

                                                                                Mid-Willamette Preview

    Aiyanna Cameron-Lewis of Crescent Valley ran 19:08 to defeat Malika Waschmann of Corvallis (19:10) and Anne Christensen of West Albany, who ran 19:21.  Corvallis led the team race over second place Crescent Valley 42 to 55.   Clay Stuhr of Dallas led the guys with 16:25.  Devin Volk of Crescent Valley placed second in 16:48 and Jonathan Sisley of Silverton took third with 16:51 – two seconds HEAD OF Justin Bieber of South Albany.   Crescent Valley had a low of 52 points with South Albany 2nd with 58.

                              https://or.milesplit.com/articles/93131-mid-willamette-preview

                                                                               

                                                Sherwood, Milwaukie, Putnam at St. Helens

      Sasha Gonzalez of Milwaukie defeated Kelsey Hilsenteger of Putnam with Gonzalez’ 19:48 being the only time to break twenty.  Kelsey ran 20:26.   Cody Thompson of Sherwood scored in the boys’ race with 17:13, as he finished two seconds ahead of Bryan Strang of St. Helens.

 

                                                                Nyssa Invitational

      Vallivue invaded the Nyssa Invitational in Oregon and stormed to victory in the girls’ race led by Mikayla Malaspina and Cheryn Trapp, who placed 1st & 2nd respectively with times of 18:44 & 18:55.  Nic

Maszk of Bakerwon the boys’ race in 1&12 and was followed by Drake Hungate, who ran 17:21.

                https://or.milesplit.com/articles/93226-nyssa-invitational

 

                                                                Madras

    With the postponement of the Sunfair Invitational Canby adjusted its schedule to compete at Madras and the move proved fortuitous for the Canby boys, who topped Redmond 44 to 52.   Pake Benthin of Molalla won the individual title with a time of 16:32.  Mazama’s Todd Delaney earned second in 16:57.  Canby’s Morgan Webber (17:15) & Cameron Huffman (17:18) led victorious Canby with their 3rd & 4th place finishes.   The girls’ race went to Emily Bever of Molalla, who ran 19:58.  Madison Winn of Burns ran 20:13 to place second.   Molalla also had runners finish in positions six through eight to pretty much guarantee victory and their total of 35 points easily triumphed.

 

                                                                                Harrier Challenge

 The race in Cottage Grove found defending Oregon 3A champion Olivia Powell of Creswell run 21:26.

 

                                                                Woahink Lake Invitational

The presence of the Siuslaw guys certainly adds to the importance of this meet and the Vikings dominated, as expected.   Matthew Campbell led his team & the field with 16:05 and was followed by his team mate Mitchell Butler (16:15) and Mack Marbas (16:17).  Ian Stevens (16:17) and Brandon Raleigh (16:39) then scored for Reynolds before Hayden Schaffner (16:49) & Seth Campbell (16:50) of Siuslaw sealed the deal in the team race.  Siuslaw, which has only one senior on the team,  won with 19 points to Reynolds with 93.   Katy Potter of the Vikings topped the girls’ field with 18:59 but the girls’ team is not as strong as in past years and Siuslaw placed only fourth.   Sierra Brown of Hidden Valley came in second with 19:07 and Zoe Falk of Sisters claimed third with 19:49.   Emily Trosino’s fourth place effort (20:27) led Reynolds’ to the team title by a 69 to 89 margin over Ashland.  Oregon City squeaked by Siuslaw on the sixth runner tie-breaker, as both teams finished with 101 points.   Corina Stilwell of the Pioneers, who finished 51st, was the key difference between the two squads.

 

 

 

                                                                                Idaho

                                                                Mountain Home Invitational

Lila Klopfenstein scored a victory for Meridian with her time of 20:18.   Sarah Christianson of Borah finished second in 20:30, which topped Jasmine Nesbitt of Jerome by a second.   Dwain Stucker of Meridian topped the guys with his time of 16:50 and Chase England of Wood River followed in second with 16:59.

 

                                                                Madison Invitational

   Pocatello runners Haydin Herndon (16:24) and Driztin Herndon (16:26) went 1 – 2 and Andrew Follett of Idaho Falls ran 16:37 for third.  Rachel McGovern of Pocatello took advantage of Presli Hutchinson’s absence to claim the victory in 19:01.  Olivia Redd of Sugar-Salem was second with 19:21.  Pocatello won both the team races.

               

                                                                Weisle Invite

 Paul Ryan, a Logos sophomore, had the best time of the day in the meet, which is run in classes.   Sara Willis of Kamiah had the fastest girls’ time in her senior race with 22:15.