The "Run-Down": District Meet @ Lewis River Golf Course

It had been seven years since both the Panther boys and girls teams have qualified for state in the same year. We stepped on the bus in the WHS parking lot amidst the light rain knowing that we were scheduled to make that happen again in 2016.

The district meet is varsity only, the bus was just half full with our seven boys and seven girls plus alternates for both. Upon arrival, the rain had subsided, but the low clouds and fog provided a taste of mist from time to time.

Our girls developed a new warm up routine (almost a ritual) as they toured the course to "Ferocious Competition." And when the gun went off, they were truly on their game like they have not done all season long. Sophomore Amelia Pullen proved half way through the race that she was the class of the field. Unfortunately, the ill-marked course allowed her to get off course when she had an insurmountable lead. More confusion in the last mile allowed for others to catch her and finish ahead of her, but her undeniable will to "not quit" was instrumental in the girls having their best 2016 finish to date.

Senior Hannah Swigert joined Amelia in a top 7 finish while posting a 3 second seasons best. Our next four girls notched solid PRs; the team placings for us, Ridgefield and Tumwater were not obvious at the finish. It could be a three way tie as each team ran near their potential. We had to wait and see.

Our nearly inseparable Sophomores Brooklyn Bausch and Annabelle Palmer somehow let a Centralia girl slip between them for 24th, even though they were just a second apart. They both ran PR’s of about 7 seconds. Junior Bekah Shilling continued her improving ways as she shaved off 16 more seconds off her best time. But Freshman Morgan Stinchfield stole the show with a minute plus PR after taking a week off from racing. She managed to chop our GBA measurement down to 17 seconds. Fellow freshman Kaylee Timmons ran just a few seconds off of her PR in 23:45 to wrap up the Panther seven performances.

As anticipated, the team score was close; the Panthers had the other two teams within arms' reach with an 80-83-87 finish, finishing well ahead of the 4th place Centralia team with 114 points. The Girls made it! Yet knowing if we put it all together at state, we can catch the Spudders and Thunderbirds in Pasco.

We felt the boys race could be just as close, or even closer, with the same two teams racing us for the district title. By then, the clouds started burning off and patches of blue sky started to appear. Our guys started as normal, but did not make their normal move up during the first mile. At the half way point, it was obvious that we were not running our best. By the finish, it was apparent that we were a comfortable 3rd with no teams very close to us. Up in front, Ridgefield and Tumwater had to settle the team title with a tie breaker, something that the Panthers could have also been involved with had they performed at the top of their game.

The brightest spot for the boys was freshman Jackson Keyser (24th), as he came through with the only PR (17:34) in this group of seven. His excellent performance picked up the slack caused by some others being off their game, as he moved up to third runner on the team for the first time. He was the first freshman across the line by 24 seconds! Another bright spot came from sophomore Gabriel Dinnel. His 5th place finish in 16:30 was only 7 seconds out of second place finisher. That just so happened to be pre-race favorite Silas Griffith who also fell prey to the poorly marked course mishap like Amelia did.

Our spider-bitten Tanner Lees (I did not find out about this medical issue until days after the race) was about 1 full minute off of his game, but his six teammates ran reasonably well enough to all place in the upper half of 90 competitors and punch their team ticket to Pasco. Although well off his PR from the week before, senior Aiden Pullen toughed out his third fastest time of his life (16:47) and captured 8th place. Sophomore Troy Prince-Butterfield placed 26th with a 17:39 and classmate Koy Chaston broke 18 minutes for the fifth time in his life clocking in at 17:55. Junior Tanner Coltrane, like Aiden, posted his third best time ever (18:10) placing 41st. We were a full 30 points away from the lead teams. Our performance was not near what we did last week, but we know with a few minor adjustments we can show the rest of the state that the Panther XC boys can be a trophy contender in Pasco.

We did it! 14 Panthers will toe the line at the State Championships on November 5th. This should be the most exciting and productive road trip of the year.

Coach Terry L. Howard

Here are the line scores:

Varsity Boys		5000 M
Gabriel	5^th	16:30
Aiden	8^th	16:47
Jackson	24^th	17:34	P.R.
Troy	26^th	17:39
Koy	33^rd	17:55
Tanner C	41^st	18:10
Tanner L	50^th	18:33
	of 90
Varsity Girls
Amelia	4^th	20:23
Hannah	7^th	20:37
Brooklyn	23^rd	21:45	P.R.
Annabelle	25^th	21:46	P.R.
Morgan	28^th	22:03	P.R.
Bekah	30^th	22:07	P.R.
Kaylee	53^rd	23:45
	of 84