Wenatchee Race Report - 9.20.14

Gretta kicks it in!

Liberty Bell XC
Location: Walla Walla Point Park - Wenatchee, WA               Date: 9.20.14
Distance: 1.5mi/3mi Conditions: HOT AGAIN! 80-88+ degrees. Sunny. Light breeze. 

Comments: Another warm one, and our third race in eight days. At 3 miles this was also our longest race so far on the high school side, so we would expect to see the average pace at least a little slower than our Bridgeport efforts from Tuesday afternoon. Down in numbers as well, due to a rash of colds and few prior family commitments, we faced a variety of top notch programs (from 4As Wenatchee and Central Valley to defending 1A State Champions, Medical Lake) and had yet another solid effort that will translate to even better things against league and district competition later in the fall.

Of special note was out first ever 6th grade participation by Liv Aspholm and Lindsay Worrell of Methow Valley Elementary. Liv cruised patiently in second place of the combined 6th grade boys/girls race until sensing the finish and putting on a surge for first. The surge played out just a little early, but she still managed to secure a first place finish in a time of 6:41. Lindsay had an excellent and instructive xc debut as well, but a fast (adrenaline infused!) first 800m may have cost her a bit of wind on the final stretch. Even still she finished 7th over all and 5th among the girls in a time of 7 minutes 58 seconds.

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS - 1.5mi. Still rockin’ it even without a full team this week!

Novie and Gretta once again led a solid field of middle school girls, and looked impressive in taking over first and second position at about 800m. A strong finishing kick from both runners is also good to see even without any immediate competition for the line. Icel again, still relatively new to the sport, had an easy stride and makes good use of her arms to drive the pace. Our reigning middle school athlete of the week, she is an excellent teammate and her enthusiasm is contagious. And finally, Sage Borgias, running through the aches and pains (shin splints!) of the early racing season, had her most competitive race to date with a strong and intentional acceleration in the first half. Her opening 8:15 mile is 30 seconds faster than her race last weekend, and soon enough she will hold that and faster to the finish. 

A colorful start to the middle school boys race.

MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS - 1.5mi. 2nd place team

Emerson is confident but patient, Peter is cruising on relaxed strength, and Logan floats loose and limber as he moves through the field. Three different styles, but each working well for these middle school runners. With a faster field from larger schools, Emerson did well to run at the front and not go too hard too early. Peter caught the tail end of Emerson’s chase pack and stayed tough until a final surge at the finish moved him one place higher in the over all standings. Also working well, and notable for Logan as well as Sam and Ian, is the learning curve of “pace”. Each of these runners has a better sense of their ability to race than they did a 8 days ago in Asotin — and each of them rose to that challenge by starting at least 20-60 seconds faster in the opening mile.To a runner, they each finished with average paces 20-25 seconds faster per mile and in many ways these were some of our most impressive races of the day!

JV BOYS - 3mi.

At just about any point in a race, Tim is looking strong. In another week or two, the 6:08 opening mile is going to average closer to 6:20 for the race rather than the 6:50 for today, and things are headed in an excellent direction. Trent and Geza as well continue to run well-intentioned and strategic races. Yes, overall paces slipped a bit as they did for everyone else, but Trent’s steady rise of nearly 20 spots is a HUGE positive, and Geza ran a gutsy race until the final 800m or so where be was unable to accelerate with much gusto to the finish.

VARSITY BOYS - 3mi. 8th place

With both JV and Varsity races, the biggest positive was our move up through the field from the first mile to the last. We ran within our current abilities and did not crash n’ burn. A big week of racing and the longest race of the year thus far took an expected toll for some in that final kick to the finish, but even still we had some gutsy efforts down the stretch. Ben, be patient with yourself. Your legs will catch up to your innate ability to compete in the next few weeks, and you are running tactically smart which is great to see. Joe, this was a solid effort on your part and you are still strides ahead of your standing at this point last season. Remember to KICK hard at that finish even if it feels like you are relatively by yourself. You are always racing the clock and no doubt there is always someone behind you who is going to try and make a late move. Very good to see you back in front of Sam Thomas from Manson though. Curious to know if you were conscious of him on the course? Willy, an even bigger phase of adapting to racing/training stress for you with the lingering head cold. You are getting better and your times will drop accordingly. Even still, you summoned an excellent kick on the final hill. Emmett, another great race for you being so new to the distances and the near 20 minute race pace efforts! A great job pacing Carter through the early part of the race and a gutsy finish as well. And Carter, these races can hurt. Fact of life. The gazelle in you sprang back to life in the final hill so we know it can run a little more freely through that hardest 2-2.75mi. Good as well to see you a little ahead of your time on this course from last season and you clearly worked hard to stay with Emmett over that final mile.

Emerson, Strong to the finish!