GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: Glacier Peak denied sweep
Published 10:51 pm Monday, October 25, 2010
MARYSVILLE — The nationally ranked Glacier Peak Grizzlies craved perfection and nearly got it.
To earn a perfect score in cross country, a team needs the five-fastest scoring runners. The Glacier Peak High School girls squad was close to that rare feat on Saturday at the Wesco South championships, but Shorewood’s Erin Johnson prevented a clean sweep.
It was one of three varsity girls races (all featuring meet-record times) held during the 2009 Cascade Conference and Western Conference Divisional Cross Country Championships at Lakewood High.
Led by South race winner Amy-Eloise Neale, who broke her own course record despite somewhat messy conditions, Class 3A Glacier Peak had five of the top six finishers and scored 19 team points to decisively win the second-year program’s first division team title. Last year Glacier Peak took second behind 4A Jackson.
“It’s a milestone,” said Glacier Peak coach Dan Parker, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the 3A state coaches’ poll and was No. 13 in the Oct. 13 Milesplit Fab-15 National Rankings.
But with district, state and national meets coming up, Glacier Peak has much bigger goals remaining.
Neale, a phenomenal freshman, won by almost a minute. She finished the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 15 seconds, seven seconds faster than the course record she set earlier this month at the Hole in the Wall Invite.
The runnerup, Shorewood’s Johnson, crossed in 19:13. After that, Glacier Peak runners Brenna Condon, Katie Bianchini, Sarah Whybark and Stephanie Jones placed third through sixth.
Shorewood’s Johnson foiled Glacier Peak’s dreams of perfection.
“Yeah, we were hoping to (sweep). … It’s not our biggest meet of the year though,” said Neale.
Johnson’s performance didn’t surprise Glacier Peak’s coach. “That was the one person we picked out that would be competition,” Parker said. “She’s good. She had a great track season last spring.”
Glacier Peak beat Shorewood for the team title by 57 points.
The 2A, 3A and 4A Northwest District Championships are Oct. 31 at South Whidbey High in Langley. Runners will try to qualify for the state meet, which will be held Nov. 7 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
Granite Falls freshman wins Cascade Conference race
The first time Rhiannon Alexander ran the course at Lakewood High, she encountered too much traffic. But the second time around, the wise Granite Falls High freshman left gridlock far behind.
Alexander surged in front early and kept her lead en route to winning the Cascade Conference girls championship in meet-record time.
“The last race (at Lakewood’s course) there was a lot of people and so I got cut off on the corners, but then this race I didn’t want that to happen so I went out faster,” said Alexander, who won in 19:16, four seconds faster than runnerup Rici Morrill of Sultan.
Alexander’s time beat the previous meet record by seven seconds; King’s Olivia Thomas ran 19:23 in 2007. Morrill also improved on Thomas’ previous record.
Alexander’s first race at Lakewood was the Hole in the Wall Invite on Oct. 10, and she placed 16th with a time of 19:55.34. But on Saturday she was 39 seconds faster on a course she said was slippery and more difficult than before.
Fourth-place finisher Cara Strodel (19:49) was the top runner for Cedarcrest, which scored 46 points and won its second straight team title. The Red Wolves are ranked No. 1 in the 2A state coaches’ poll.
Fields leads No. 6 Stanwood to Wesco North title
After enduring injuries all season, the Stanwood Spartans are getting healthy at the right time.
Junior Minna Fields set a meet record by winning the Wesco North championship race in 18:41, 12 seconds faster than the old record run by Monroe’s Lyndy Davis in 2007.
Fields was one of three top-eight individuals for Stanwood, which won its second straight North title. Natasha Verma was fifth and Jordin Stephenson eighth for the Spartans, ranked No. 6 in the 4A state coaches’ poll. Several Stanwood girls battled hip injuries this fall but are feeling better, Fields said.
Fields improved drastically over her eighth-place showing at the 2008 North championships. She sliced 70 seconds off of her time from last year.
Girls race results
At Lakewood H.S.
5,000 meters (3.1 miles)
Team scores and top-10 individuals. For complete meet results, go to Athletic.net.
Cascade Conference girls
Team scores: 1. Cedarcrest 46 points, 2. Lakewood 61, 3. King’s 68, 4. South Whidbey 106, 5. Archbishop Murphy 108, 6. Granite Falls 128.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Rhiannon Alexander (GF) 19:16*, 2. Rici Morrill (Sultan) 19:20, 3. Chelsea Stokes (Lakewood) 19:47, 4. Cara Strodel (Cedarcrest) 19:49, 5. Rachel Cundy (Lakewood) 20:02, 6. Missy Dowd (Cedarcrest) 20:03, 7. Adele Eslinger (King’s) 20:21, 8. Makenzie Taylor (King’s) 20:25, 9. Chelsea Sowards (Lakewood) 20:34, 10. Desiree’ Nieblas (Cedarcrest) 20:37.
*New meet record
Wesco North girls
Team scores: 1. Stanwood 46 points, 2. Oak Harbor 90, 3. Snohomish 91, 4. Arlington 113, 5. Lake Stevens 117, 6. Marysville-Pilchuck 122, 7. Monroe 127, 8. Everett 190.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Minna Fields (Stanwood) 18:41, 2. Samantha Minor (LS) 19:07, 3. Adrianna Royal (Oak Harbor) 19:14, 4. Chelsea Dowdell (Everett) 19:16, 5. Natasha Verma (Stanwood) 19:20, 6. Rachel Lefstad (M-P) 19:35, 7. Allison Duvenez (OH) 19:36, 8. Jordin Stephenson (Stanwood) 19:36, 9. Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe) 19:38, 10. Veronica Hall (M-P) 19:56.
*New meet record
Wesco South girls
Team scores: 1. Glacier Peak 19 points, 2. Shorewood 76, 3. Jackson 96, 4. Edmonds-Woodway 105, 5. Kamiak 139, 6. Shorecrest 150, 7. Mountlake Terrace 174, 8. Meadowdale 202, 9. Lynnwood 230, 10. Mariner 276.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Amy-Eloise Neale (GP) 18:15, 2. Erin Johnson (Shorewood) 19:13, 3. Brenna Condon (GP) 19:18, 4. Katie Bianchini (GP) 19:24, 5. Sarah Whybark (GP) 19:24, 6. Stephanie Jones (GP) 19:40, 7. Betsie Hopper (E-W) 19:44, 8. Stephanie Moore (Kamiak) 19:49, 9. Juliette Becker (Jackson) 19:58, 10. Kelsey Fruland (Jackson) 19:59.
