Liberty Bell XC
Location: Sun Willows Golf Course - STATE! - Pasco, WA Date: 11.8.14
Distance: 5km Conditions: 50-53 degrees. Sun. Light Breeze. REALLY nice!
Comments: As I FINALLY sit down to write this - nearly 10 days after State - I am still wearing my coaches bracelet from the meet and reveling in the overall fine-ness of your performances. I’m pretty sure that the 5 hour drive home from Pasco has never seemed shorter as I poured over details of the race and soaked-in both my own personal excitement and that to be expressed for the team. I waxed nostalgic even on how the orchard trees and cottonwoods paid late afternoon tribute bathed in shades of green and gold… but that seemed a little much.
You guys did it. AMAZING. The first podium finish for LBHS since 2001! From Carter’s week-prior selflessness, to Tim finally catching up on the academics, to Willy pushing himself to once again finish sub-17:30 with a patient and gusty race. Awesome. I will say more about each of you below, but despite a few individual races scuffed by untimely injury, as a team - you were simply marvelous. We raced that course as well or better than anyone out there. We wanted to be the hunters and we were. We decimated the apparent competition from Toledo and Tri-Cities Prep, out-distanced St. George and Republic to the tune of 60 points, and showed Asotin very clearly why we’d come down to scout them out to start the season. I guarantee you that they weren’t expecting us to be that close. And remember that for whatever happens next. Whether your running again next year, or moving on into the great wider world of college etc. Have a goal. Work a plan. Show up every day and trust in your efforts to get better. Every one of you gave it your best this season, and Liberty Bell crushed it on race day. As a coach (and coaches) Craig and I couldn’t be more proud.
VARSITY BOYS - 5k. FOURTH PLACE TEAM! 135 pts - unexpectedly only 4 pts. shy of 3rd.
Carter despite your late-season injury and a difficult effort at State, you were only 22 sec. shy of last year’s mark and still ran you best 5k time of the year. An earlier 3mi time - a better non-injury mark for you - ranks 6th on the 10th grade performance list for LBHS and hints more at your true potential. With some summer running to regain strength and flexibility in those still-young and pliable feet of yours, you can be running sub-19 in 2015.
Tim: So happy for you and your participation at the State meet. More important even than your time or efforts on the course, you earned a spot by getting those grades and assignments back in shape. As discussed earlier, the team values your participation and to a runner (and coach) they are there for you as well. The school work/athletic balance will get easier, and you have a lot of excellent racing in front of you so I hope that you are excited to excel in both parts of your day. It should be said as well that with your State meet 5k PR you now own the 11th fastest LBHS 9th grade performance of all time. None too shabby, and you too can be running under 19 minutes next year.
Garett: Really great to have you on the team this year, and as said on Senior day, we’ve only scratched the surface of your running potential. Work ethic, attitude, guts, and a great teammate demeanor - its all there. Awesome to have you contribute to those early pacing efforts with Eli and Emmett and congrats on getting SO CLOSE to that 6 min per mile barrier at Leagues. The injury? It happens. A bummer when the timing is like it was and with so inexplicable a reason, but you handled it extremely well, and we are not at all 4th place at State without your being a part of this team.
Josiah: Simply put, a terrific season. You improved on last year’s state meet performance by well-over a minute and all season long you were a steadfast part of our success. Admirable as well were your continued efforts to find that extra gear and to go for just a bit more in the middle of the race. Your summer running, cycling, and swimming gave your strength, and your personal drive took care of the rest. As our 4th man at State, you finished 19 sec. in front of Asotin’s 3rd man, Brady McKay… who beat you by 40 sec. at our first meet of the year. A 60 sec. turn around and so well done on the biggest stage that we can run.
Eli “fastest freshman in the State” Nielsen! Lest it go unnoticed, Eli now also owns the second fastest 9th grade 5k time for LHBS as well. Faster than dearly graduated Liam Daily by 30 seconds, and faster even than Olympic athlete Eric Bjornsen (17:32) who once-upon-a-time also claimed the “fastest freshman” at State title as well. A great season Eli, and another smart and patient race despite some nerves and jitters. Smart. Consistent. Strong. And so much to build upon in years to come…
…That being said, an extra thank you here to senior captain Willy Duguay for his guidance of many new runners (Eli, Garett, Emmett, Trent) throughout the season. Whether pacing Garett at Leagues, or slingshotting back n’ fourth with Eli’s surges a Districts and Oroville, your “steady hand” on the first mile has been an excellent model for all. Paired with late-race strength and the guts to push beyond the finish, your presence will be missed, but your example will carry on. Perfect pacing at State AGAIN to take your crew through the mile in 5:30ish (50th place) and then to move up throughout. Congrats as well seeing 4th place as an attainable goal and for doing all that you could to get us there.
And finally Ben - who also did well to model his State meet race plan on the sit and hunt strategy. Its a tricky thing to be sure and always hard to know if you were TOO patient to start and have too much ground to make up. In this case, no way. Played to perfection! 17th at the mile, 4th at the finish. And at 3/4 mile to go your were perfectly placed in about 7th or 8th and looking sharp. While still a little distance to 3rd (10 sec.) you ran incredibly smart, and just within that fine line of make or break to the finish. Exciting stuff, and the icing on the cake of a great meet and a great season for Liberty Bell XC.
