Liberty Bell XC
Location: Plantes Ferry Regional Park - Spokane Valley, WA Date: 9.19.15Distance: 1.5mi/5km Conditions: 65-70 degrees. Sunny n’ fast!
Comments: A really good weekend — except for maybe the two train tracks within a 1/2 mile of the KOA campsite. Still, if we can run like this on a rough night of sleep then we are off to a fine start! Short grass and a beautiful day made for fast racing all around. We may not see times like this again for quite a few more weeks, but they will be well within our grasp by season’s end.
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS - 1.5mi. 15pts. 1st place… but no other scoring teams :)
** Final places are for gender, while the 1st mile place was for the entire field.
A smaller field than anticipated, but fine running again from our 7th and 8th grade girls. Congrats to Gretta, Liv, Lena, and Keeley on their first races of the season. Novie, a little pressure from behind today - which is great - but you ran your race with a strong middle and enough left at the end. Gretta, welcome back! Both to the racing season and to another smart performance. Liv, nice work, but pretty hard from the gates. Try matching up with Gretta or Lindsay in the first 400-800m at Manson, and see if that helps the middle feel a little stronger. Lindsay, a good race all around. I missed the kick, but you looked strong through the middle and had a little more snap to the legs then last week in Moses Lake. Lena, a good start to the races for you as well and a nice open stride through the middle of the race. Keeley, a good first effort and it will flow better as you trust your knee and find a way to keep it loose. Eva and Annika, really solid improvements from the opener last week in Moses Lake. You were both feeling a little banged up, but each ran well by getting into the race and dropping those times nearly 1min and 1:20 respectively! And for Annika, the first junior high Athlete of the Week designation is well deserved.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS - 1.5mi. No Team Score
** Final places are for gender, while the 1st mile place was for the entire field.
Colds and some nagging injuries left only three middle school boys for the day in Spokane, but Ian and Travis once again did an excellent job of working well together start to finish. I missed the kick, but I can only imagine that the final stretch was as good as last week in Moses Lake — with Ian getting the slight edge in the last 50m. Andrew, congrats on your first ever XC race and smart pacing as you moved up well from start to finish. You and Aidan will work well together next week in Manson!
VARSITY / JV GIRLS - 3.1mi. No Team Score
** Final places are for freshman-only placings vs the 1 and 2mi. splits for the entire JV field.
Sage, nice performance with another final mile of note for week no. 2. Next week you should go out even stronger and you might surprise yourself with what you still have left! Johanna, congratulations on your very first race and its great to see you so steady in the first two miles but still have something left at the end. And Larkin, a well-deserved Athlete of the Week honor. Your still battling a cold and chest congestion, but you went out stronger and took nearly three minutes off of your time from Moses Lake. A much closer average mile across the board, and you still had some “go” in that final mile as well.
JV/FRESHMAN BOYS - 3.1mi. 127pts - 6th place
** Final places are for freshman-only placings vs the 1 and 2mi. splits for the entire JV field.
* And Cameron’s place was for the JV field only.
Lazo, Cameron, and Sam joined the JV boys this week and it was pretty cool to see a full flight of seven runners warming up before the race. Simon, great work in getting out faster in a quick field and still dropping time from start to finish. Soon enough you will have the chance to run with Peter, Geza, and Tim, and that will be an excellent group to help you challenge the early and middle parts of the race — but still have teammates to run with in the final mile. Stay tall and avoid that side-to-side sway in the upper body when working hard with your arms. Cameron, a great start as well in your first ever XC race, and we will work this week on standing tall and breathing to get you opened up for even better oxygen efficiency. With an average pace very close to Geza and Simon, you will also benefit from an eventual race where we pack together a solid group of 4-5 runners. Lazo, welcome back! You look so strong in your form etc. and if you push a little harder at the start you will surprise yourself with how that strength can carry you through the middle to end of the race. You are a sub-seven min. average runner right now for sure. Michael, solid! About a 30sec. per mile drop in pace from last week, and a much better progression from start to finish. You’re running with good form as well, and in another few weeks you will break through some of that mid-race hurt and be pleased with how well you can carry a pace. Sam, welcome back as well. Take things out stronger next week! You looked super comfortable out there and a sub-eight minute pace is certainly within your grasp. Zach and Ian, 8:40 vs 8:48 for the first mile but you can push a little harder from the start. With an 8:11 average this past week a 1st mile split of 8:15-8:20 will get you further up to start and then help you knock another solid chunk from your overall time. Don’t save TOO much for the end. It will hurt a bit in the middle, but your strength will carry you more than you think!
VARSITY GIRLS - 3.1mi. No Team Score
Athena, well done again to stay composed in a big field with a fast start. The move from 25 > 12 was a little tougher with a spread out race, but you made steady progress and still had a nice kick for the final 150m. With many fewer runners — but a couple of rabbits in this weekend’s Manson race - it might be interesting to try going out maybe 10 sec. faster in that first mile to see how it feels. And Mia, Icel, and Ava, a commendable job by all and really excellent group running. AWESOME! There is huge success here in having Mia get to the finish line, but it was obvious too in how Mia’s leadership pulled everyone along to an excellent race. Its not always easy to move as a group in a crowded field, but she led and you all followed. I don’t know if you talked much or not, but in the next race make that a focus. Keep each other aware when you want to move or to pass another runner, and encourage each other when you feel like you might need a boost. Something about hurting a bit, but tricking yourself into thinking “I feel good enough to be the one cheering” is a good thing. Plus, if other racers hear you it makes them feel like you are cruising :) Icel, a strong kick over the final 50m and Ava, way to hand tough when it started to hurt. At one point you were running wide on the course, so make sure that you tuck in behind the group (or any other runner) to make things as short as possible out there.
VARSITY BOYS - 3.1mi. 214pts 8th place - 1st place B school
A larger group this week with Carter in his first XC race of the season. Nice work again in capturing the B school title, and some sensible and timely improvements over last week’s race in Moses Lake. I will again say to Ben and Eli in particular that we may not see super fast times like these until State, but by that time of year and on that course, you will certainly be back in the ballpark or faster (as noted by comparing Erik Anderson and State Meet times over the last couple of years). For others, your 5k racing form is still new and a bit untested. Take this as a good sign and strive to keep it rolling! Ben, nice. With 500m to go you looked even better than last week and its impressive when you leave another runner with conviction at the 2mi and continue to gain ground. Eli, another solid final mile, and you can challenge that start just a wee bit more to see what happens. Can-Am is going to be a good place for you to see similar runners again and we’ll add Chris Oats from Wilber-Creston and Israel Escamilla from Omak as some benchmark runners for you to keep an eye on as the season unfolds. Emerson, really nice. Not a lot faster than last week in that first mile (which is good for now) but much stronger in the middle. Glad that you are feeling better, and it was clear too that you still had some wheels with 600-700m to go. Great tempo at that point and a notably excellent drop between you first and 3rd miles! Keep an eye on runners you’d like to catch and we’ll help with a sensible match soon as well. Carter, also very well done. Maybe a bit strong to start, but the desire is good and you will gather strength for that middle as the season rolls. Even still, you surprised a bit (in a good way!) and fought tough to the finish — where you also had a powerful last 100m and the best kick that I saw on the day (with Tim and Icel a close second). Peter, Geza, and Tim, strong group running again as well. We like how you all were out about 15 sec. faster than last week — but also ended up with average spots at right around your initial mile. Really nice! Separation again at the finish, but its good that you are willing to break up the group in the later part of the race. Peter, really work on that tempo - arms, legs, find that 180 beat - to keep things lighter in the middle of the race. Geza, great arm drive! Keep that focus out there and keep moving as a group just like you have been. Tim, get that leg healed and you will lead things into the finish again in due course. An impressive surging kick and the encouragement for Geza in the final stretch shows good awareness of those many extra ways to help a teammate.