Liberty Bell XC
Location: Leavenworth Ski Hill - Leavenworth, WA Date: 10.11.14
Distance: 2.8mi Conditions: 60-65 degrees. Overcast. Hilly trails!
Comments: Wow. A scenic, hilly course at the base of a ski jump. Winding trails in the woods with both an uphill start and finish. Ribbons to the top 30 finishers.
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| Koharu charges the final hill. |
VARSITY / JV GIRLS - 2.8mi.
Much stronger on the hills than earlier this season, Koharu is finding familiar athletes in the field and she is demonstrating an excellent awareness of where she is at and who she needs to race in these final weeks of the season. McKenzie’s form on the hills is great as well, and she is starting to stretch it out a bit on the flatter sections of the course. A very small “team” of two — it is great to see these ladies supporting each other out there each and every week.
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| McKenzie Woodworth - determined on the final climb. |
VARSITY / JV BOYS - 2.8mi. No scoring team.
This was a hilly course - and our excellent efforts on the day will pay dividends at State! With several seniors taking the SAT, and several underclassman who need to get on top of their grades, our smaller group was not a factor in the team scoring. That being said, we moved up with confidence, and were very strong over the last 600m including the final hill to the finish. When Ben was falling off a bit from the lead group to start the second half… he immediately made a little push to reconnect on the longer downhill. A great move at a critical time. A short while later at the 2mi, he had passed the group and made a move into 3rd and 4th. Connect to a group when it hurts. Relax, and then move again. Joe ran another strong race as well. A bit behind Hunter from Tonasket at the mile, Joe ended up beating him by 45 seconds. He was only 6 seconds back of Oren Cox from Bridgeport, and Joe is racing consistent and tough to the line. For more relative performance measures, Eli Nielsen has finished 45 sec. back of Hunter in each of the last 2 races. At Leavenworth, that margin was down to 6 seconds! Eli’s race smarts and his strength over the final mile are really coming into form. Of note as well, Eli passed 15 runners in the final .8 of the race. Nice! Carter looked great as well on the final hill and he chased hard passing several runners in the race to the finish. To a runner, our average pace was about 15 sec. slower per mile than it has been on flatter faster courses. That being said, the racing isn’t always about a time, and we are demonstrating desire in spades.
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| Carter above and Eli (below) power up the final climb. Well run by ALL. |
