The "Run-Down": Salt Creek Invitational

On a beautiful Friday at noon, the school van was loaded and the varsity Panthers headed up north to a new and unfamiliar territory to compete at the Salt Creek Invitational (Since we did not have the firepower to compete in Idaho this year). Even though the kids had a one-track mind to divide and conquer, there was a copious amount of laughter and memories made, especially for the girls! The weekend included the varsity girls ordering two large pizzas, one which they devoured and one which was finished around 11:45 later that night. The only group that enjoyed their Friday night meal more was probably the team of deer on the course that were “mowing the grass.” The original housing plan was to stay at Olympic View Inn; however, staff had given the reserved rooms away making for a complicated situation. New reservations at a motel 25 minutes away and a late bedtime for the Panthers became the plan to remedy the situation. Thankfully, the location was much closer to the course which allowed everyone to achieve a few minutes of extra sleep before their big day. The course is also a 3 mile route, so effective times below will be converted to 5K equivalents.

The varsity boys ran hard and worked as a team throughout the entire course. Freshman Trey Keyser finished with a blaze, securing 40th place. Senior Caden Lowman was right on his heels in 43rd. Senior Hayden Stinchfield, who was next (not sophomore Sam Lewis - the results are wrong), and freshman Blake Mattern both had visions of victory between them as they battled it out to the finish line. Even though both boys ran 17:37’s for 3 miles, Hayden was able to pull ahead placing 45th while Blake snatched 46th with an effective P.R. of 18:19. Sam was actually 54th as he finished one of his finest races ever. Junior Ted West came in 63rd while sophomore Jacob Streuli was a step behind in 64th. Jacob’s converted time of 19:10 helped him join Blake as the two boys that effectively had P.R.’s. Each of the boys left their powerful “prints” on that course. Overall, the varsity boys team landed seventh with 219 points placing them significantly ahead of North Mason(224), Kingston(246) and Sequim(259).

The girls have become closer as the year has continued and the connection they are developing is growing stronger! This has made for great teamwork especially during the bigger meets when they know specific teams/runners need to be targeted. As fate would have it there were a couple scares before the meet including all seven girls sitting on an old wooden fence which proceeded to crack and release an astronomical number of termites and earwigs. Senior Clara Best led the girls in team pep talk and prayer before the race. Freshman Sydnee Boothby had one of the strongest races of the season. She queued in a fantastic converted time of 19:11, making that her second PR of the season. Sophomore Savea Mansfield was quick to appear out of the woods kicking it in to secure her new P.R. by a second, her place in the top 10 and a converted time of 19:58. Junior Meryl Keeler finished with a satisfying 21st place. Freshman Daya Sathyaraj had an amazing race, marking it the best race of the season so far. She ran hard and tracked down a few girls earning her an effective P.R. of 22:25. Clara came in 41st, running her second best race ever and her best race of the season. She pulled her typical 400 meter finish even though she wasn’t able to catch the girls ahead of her. Senior Kaylee Timmons was happy to be on the course again after dealing with a pre-season injury. She ran very solid and is hopeful for the future seeing as she will bounce back stronger than she was before. Last, but not least, freshman Violet Hancock also ran a new PR of 26:04. She had a smooth finish and there are great things coming her way as the season progresses.

The future looks bright for the Panthers as they continue to improve not only their individual performances, but also their team work on the course. We are ready to challenge those who share a course with us… We will come out on top.

Our next race is Wednesday at Woodland, against the Beavers and the Hawks of Hockinson.

Clara Best

(Edited by Coach Terry L. Howard)

Line scores:

Varsity Boys		3 Miles?	Converted
Trey	40^th	17:29.5
Caden	43^rd	17:34.4
Hayden	45^th	17:37.4
Blake	46^th	17:37.7	18:19c	P.R.
Sam	54^th	17:54.2
Ted	63^rd	18:26.9
Jacob	64^th	18:27.3	19:10c	P.R.
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Varsity Girls		3 Miles?
Sydnee	4^th	18:28.4	19:11c	P.R.
Savea	10^th	19:13.6	19:58c	P.R.
Meryl	21^st	20:40.5
Daya	35^th	21:34.1	22:25c	P.R.
Clara	45^th	22:32.6
Kaylee	67^th	24:39.6
Violet	70^th	25:05.7	26:04c	P.R.
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