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| Liberty Bell High School Boys: 3rd place at the 2014 Can-Am XC Invite -- a position shared by both Liberty Bell middle school teams (boys and girls) as well. |
Liberty Bell XC
Location: Lake Roosevelt Rec. Area - Kettle Falls, WA Date: 10.4.14
Distance: 1.5mi/5km Conditions: 65 degrees. Sunny. 100-150m sandy beach!
Comments: A true XC course with several different loops and slightly rolling terrain. The biggest challenge is a 100-150m stretch of very soft sand - run twice by the HS and once by the MS. Another shorter and somewhat firmer 25m “beach” occurs both early and late in the race for both divisions.
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS - 1.5mi. 85 pts. 3rd place!
Team efforts defined our races this weekend and it started early with another excellent race for the Liberty Bell middle school girls. As they have all season long, Novie and Gretta found themselves leading the field at somewhere between 400-600m into the race. Typical as well, is the fact that each is poised and capable in this role. In taking early leads, they are holding firm in those positions and extend their margins start to finish. Icel had another nice race with a solid kick, and Sage had her most competitive race of the year. Her strong finish pushed her past at least 4-5 runners in the final 150m and with only 7 points separating Liberty Bell and Deer Park, those were valuable places indeed. Larkin Lucy raced hard as well over the final stretch from the swimming beach to the finish. In this exhausting stretch, while closing but not quite catching a small pack of runners ahead, she bravely held off the charge of several others in her wake. And finally, while ongoing knee problems kept Lucy Cole from running as planned, she cheered her teammates from the sidelines and will hopefully join us again in Omak on Tuesday 10/7. Admirable running from all, and middle school hardware for the trophy case. GRRR!
MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS - 1.5mi. 88 pts. 3rd place!
The boys middle school race offers just a slightly different scenario for what still equates to an excellent team finish. Emerson set his competitive sights early on eventual second place runner from Omak, Israel Escamilla. As it turns out, Israel goes out HARD, and he had fast company from Colville to share the load. Emerson’s valiant effort left him stuck in no-man’s land between the field and the front runners, but he ran admirably tough to hold on for 3rd. Walker Hall, savvy and patient - tough in a different way - hung back early and closed hard in the second half coming only seconds from catching Emerson at the line — and Logan continues to rock. With no Peter in the race, he chased Walker. 1:30 behind Walker in our first race of the year, he was 35 seconds back today - and its only 1.5 miles. Enough said! Liberty Bell placed three runners in the top 8 and had three across the line before any other team had two. Strong front running was then supported nicely by mid-pack races from Zach and Ian. The times for many middle school runners were slower than in previous races by 50-70 seconds (see sand in course description above). With times variable to terrain etc. it is strongly evident that Zach and Ian ran well based on their marginal difference of closer to 30 seconds instead. Nice work again to all, and once again, some middle school hardware for the trophy case!
VARSITY / JV GIRLS - 3.1mi.
First off, congratulations to Koharu for fighting through sore shins to run a race time quite comparable to last weekend’s at the Manson Invite. She relaxed, rallied, and raced, and we commend her for both the effort and for the eventual result. Very nice to see that first mile pace close to the over-all average of 7:57. On a tough course with uncertain beginnings, this was a solid performance. McKenzie is still learning her XC ropes but continues to improve. This was her first official 5k distance - but also her fastest 2mi split of the season. Fitness and form will come together over the next three weeks for her best performances of the year — with much of that improvement coming over a stronger last mile.
VARSITY / JV BOYS - 3.1mi. 143 pts. 3rd place!
And finally again, the high school boys. For several weeks now we’ve talked about Can-AM as the first true benchmark for LBHS XC. With just a few more weeks until the Championship phase of League/District/State, WE - ARE - ON - IT! Finally a true 5k race and almost everyone rose to the occasion with their best paces of the season. Runners in this race from comparable 2B schools like Republic and St. George had logged 5ks 30-40 seconds faster at earlier points this season - but where course terrain (and times) can change, races are won in the places at the finish. We raced faster today (we are adapting to stress), we moved up start to finish (we are smart), AND we passed some serious numbers where it can really count at the finish line (we are tough). You can’t ask for more — especially on a course with leg sapping sand in the final 800m. Uhg! Ben, great job being patient with the crowded start and excellent movement to challenge Duncan for 2nd. He won this round, but you are headed headed in the right direction. “Shoeless Joe (Josiah)” Klemmeck — who it should be mentioned raced the last mile with ONLY ONE SHOE!!! - had is best race of a 2-year XC career, and is now competing for podium spots with his first-ever sub-18min 5k. He also CRUSHED IT in the final kick to the line - leading a pack of 4-5 runners separated by a mere 1.5 seconds. Willy maintains his steady progress into championship-season form, and finished the course over a minute faster than he did in 2012. In doing so, he led Eli to another excellent mid-season race. Be confident Eli, in your own ability to run a sub-18 minute effort in November. You are right on Willy’s heels and he will get you there. Garrett - “the Flash” - Palm whose finish line sprint (passing 7-8 runners in the final 150m) was the best on the day did an equally stellar job of sharing the earlier 4850m with teammate Emmett Fink. As seniors and accomplished athletes it shouldn’t surprise - but as first-year xc runners your ability to work as a group continues to impress. Carter, you did a great job of staying close to the Garrett/Emmet train, and in doing so (on a slower course) logged your second fastest 5k ever. Trent, congrats on your first official 5k - remarkably hand-in-hand with your fastest pace of the year and your first time cracking the 7min pace mark. Geza and Tim, get that homework turned in so that we can see you back in action next weekend. We want you guys to realize the benefits of the hours spent running and we missed not having you on the award stand with the team. School comes first, so take care of business and then we can have some fun.
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| Ben moves into 4th position just before the 2mi. |