RACE COURSE: Bellingham Civic Stadium, 2mi. The course is fast but challenging. Smoke/haze in the air but never beyond reason. Quite a bit warmer for the final junior and senior races, but so glad that we could be there and racing!
OVERALL: Phew! We snuck that one in and it was great to get a race under the belt. A big thank you to the meet organizers for being so on the ball with air quality checks and hourly updates on conditions. I don’t know how they did it, but their efforts and yours were totally worth the trip! Just really nice to get a race effort under the belt and to be in the mix again with the colorful chaos of XC running!
JV1: 107 Finishers.
Hunter: 14:53.92, 35th place. 1st Mile: 7:23, Overall Pace: 7:27
Over a minute faster in your first mile… but that means like TWO minutes faster on the second mile. One xc season + one track season, and what a difference a year makes. You were racing from the start and have such a much better sense of pace and effort. Literally 3:04 and 46 places better than your race on the same course last season. All of those 6:20-6:00 miles from track are going to pay dividends all season!
Birch: 16:00.65, 69th place. 1st Mile: 7:34, Overall Pace: 8:01
An overall excellent and impressive job out there, Birch! With very little speed work so far, and lots of just getting miles and building a tolerance for running in general, the fact that you could avoid getting caught up in the racing excitement and finish at sustainable pace is success in and of itself. The shock of racing to your lungs will improve for sure, but all of your initial instincts for how to do this are right where they need to be. Awesome debut!
SOPH BOYS: 107 Finishers.
An overall excellent and impressive job out there, Birch! With very little speed work so far, and lots of just getting miles and building a tolerance for running in general, the fact that you could avoid getting caught up in the racing excitement and finish at sustainable pace is success in and of itself. The shock of racing to your lungs will improve for sure, but all of your initial instincts for how to do this are right where they need to be. Awesome debut!
SOPH BOYS: 107 Finishers.
Dexter: 10:26.17, 1st place, 1st Mile: 5:04, Overall Pace: 5:13
Fifteen seconds faster in the first mile this year – which is great, and interesting because you probably looked more relaxed and under less pressure for the entire race this year as well. You did very well to control things from the front, and at the same time were patient about getting there and picked your spot to surge. You pushed very well where it counted (up and down the hills, I think) and set the tone early - establishing a gap that could not be closed. Excited for a match up with St. Hilaire from TCP and some Wenatchee and Hanford runners this next weekend.
Tristan: 13:51.53,103rd place, 1st Mile: 6:20, Overall Pace: 6:57
A first mile right on pace with 2021, but a crowded field and a little harder to move your way up over that challenging second loop. You’ve been right with Kyler in most of our workouts – picking up where you left off last year – so I expect when we can get you both in a race again together it will be a huge boost to pacing and knowing how hard to push vs what is sustainable for the finish. That race discomfort feeling will get better as well and we will do a little speed work this week to get those legs and arms moving quick!
SENIOR BOYS: 88 Finishers.
SENIOR BOYS: 88 Finishers.
Jackson: 12:23.70, 54th place, 1st Mile: 5:55, Overall Pace: 6:12
A solid start and very similar to last year’s over all time. You were about 10 seconds faster at the mile in 2021 – and I do think that you might have gotten caught a little far back in the back for all of that tight and crowded stuff on the downhill and through the woods etc.. There is always at least a little slowing down in the second half, but you are strong enough to hang tough even when it hurts. It’ll take just another race or two of finding that right pace in mile number one. The senior year is rolling and we’ll just keep building from here!
Tristan: 12:26.55, 56th place, 1st Mile: 5:55, Overall Pace: 6:14
A sixteen-second improvement over last season’s opener with exactly the same finishing place and the same opening mile. No side stitch this year, and you were in it from start to finish. Looking through the photos of you and Jackson both, one thing that we can definitely work on for next week is staying relaxed. You guys are strong. You are running great workouts. Your legs are good we have LOTS of time to keep getting better. You look much more relaxed in practice so just take these races in stride and don’t put too much pressure on any one moment or event. Excited to coach you all for one more season!
GIRLS OVERALL: We were a small but impressive crew today! With Leki and Sandra taking the line and having some really awesome first race results and Josie supporting the whole team with some amazing mile split-taking, the LBHS girls team did itself proud. We're sure Zoe also did us proud at the fair, and we're excited she'll be back next week!
JUNIOR GIRLS: 88 Finishers.
Leki: 12:53.94, 6th place, 1st Mile: 6:13, Overall Pace: 6:27
Let that one be the confidence booster it should be for you, Leki. That was an awesome first race. You got out into a great position and you raced the people around you, keeping contact and focusing when you needed to. That average pace puts you right at a 20 flat 5K -- and that is an impressive place to start the season. You're going to get stronger and faster with each week, so put any summer doubts aside and recognize you are right where you want to be.
Sandra: 14:56.34, 33rd place, 1st Mile: 7:17, Overall Pace: 7:28
I cannot tell you how big I was smiling when I saw you come off the track and onto that first downhill having put yourself up there in the front third of the race. Yes! That is just the kind of confidence you can have after a great track season last spring and a summer of good lifting. You put yourself into the pack and then you just let yourself race the people around you. This is a huge PR on this course (over 1 minute 15 seconds faster) AND a faster average pace than your BEST race last year at districts. Keep believing and you are going to have quite a season!
Josie: Mile-split taker for every race!
We know it's been hard to take the rest your body needs. Thank you for giving your all to resting and know that your body will appreciate it! Thanks for being willing to get up at 5am and join your team and for so capably getting splits and cheering for all. We will all look forward to getting to cheer for you and take your splits! Just hang in there!
WAITING IN THE WINGS:
Zoe: At the Fair!
Hoping the pig and rabbits showed off all your care-taking skills and that you had fun. We have been so impressed with your workouts the last two weeks - you're ready to bust a huge PR this season and its going to be so fun when you do!
Aksel, Will, Omar, Kyler, George, Jaydn, and John – Thanks very much to those of you who were able to make it over to watch and learn and maybe to get a little bit excited about racing for the first time this coming week at Wenatchee. The junior boy category would have been our one chance to score some team points this weekend (you need 5 in a grade to score at Sehome) so we very much look forward to getting that core group of you back together again in the weeks ahead!