Ingredients Right For Repeat Cv’S 4X4 Relay Team Pushing Hard For State Record, Another Title
The pressure begins when the gun goes off and Stephanie Crace bolts out of the starting block, running like a frightened deer.
It doesn’t end until Leslie Meredith breaks the tape well in front of any rival, but just ahead of the demons chasing her.
In between, Wendy Wagar and Corinne Gannon accept the hot potato of expectation and hand it off as a hotter potato.
The four talented runners from Central Valley High School combined for a state championship in the 1,600-meter relay last spring.
They’re all back to try it again, only faster. Their goal is a state record. It’s possible because not only are they experienced, they are being challenged.
“We’ll definitely get the record this year because we’re all being pushed (by teammates),” Wagar said. “We don’t want to be taken off our state champion team.”
Last year in the preliminaries at state, CV ran 3:52.2. The state record is 3:51.7.
“I don’t have to hide anybody,” CV coach Dennis McGuire said. “I’m in the fourth year of a once-in-a-lifetime coaching experience… . The saddest thing is we might have the best 4-by-2 (4x200 relay team) in the state if we put one together.”
The 800-meter relay and 1,600-relay are run almost back-to-back at state, making it difficult for the same runners to do both. Also, Crace, Gannon and Meredith were on the 400-meter relay team that placed sixth at state, joined by Amy Nickerson, who also returns.
Obviously, each could reach individuals goals, but they all want to defend their title.
“With our depth for the 4-by-4, we can make a run at the 4-by-1,” McGuire said. “We haven’t made all the decisions. I’m not going to shut any doors, but what I will not do is over-run those girls, so they don’t have the opportunity to achieve their goal in the 4-by-4.”
Someone has to be first
“If you get behind in a big meet, with eight lanes full, you’ve lost,” McGuire said. “The No. 1 is vital.”
Crace, a senior, hasn’t put that much thought into it.
“I like it because I get to cheer for everyone,” she said.
She knows her job is to get that lead because the pressure of playing catch-up is a lot more intense than trying to pad a lead.
“She just has the confidence in her ability; she’s not going to give up that front spot to another team,” McGuire said. “Having Stephanie get to that place where she wanted to be leadoff was important… . I can’t remember a meet she had a breakdown, which is pretty incredible. She never had a bad race.”
A 4.0 student, Crace has been accepted at Eastern, Whitworth, Washington State and Idaho. Running is secondary to pursuing an elementary education degree.
Caught in the middle.
“You can talk about the second leg and third leg equally,” McGuire said. “To be quite frank, we could mix that up and do just as well.
“For the second leg you want someone who is comfortable in the lead or will do anything in their power not to lose it.”
Wagar, a junior, runs second.
“I like it just where I am,” she said. “I know I can count on Stephanie to get a good lead. There’s a lot of pressure (to maintain the lead). It’s more of a rush. You know they’re behind you somewhere; there’s more weight on your shoulders because you want to keep the lead.”
McGuire wouldn’t be surprised if Wagar doesn’t hold the school record in the 800 by the end of this season.
Gannon, another junior, runs third.
“The third leg, if they’re behind a little bit, they’ll do anything in the first 100 meters to get even and then maintain,” McGuire said. “You have to be strong, tough, confident.”
That’s especially true on other teams, which might not have four quality 400 runners.
“If you hide somebody, it’s going to be leg two, so there’s a lot of pressure on leg three to make it back up,” McGuire said. “I’m in a situation where I don’t need to hide anybody.”
The relay team is perfect for Gannon. She plays soccer in the fall and gymnastics in the winter. Track combines the team aspect of one with the individuality of the other.
“I don’t have a favorite,” she said. “I like them all during the season.”
When last is first
“I think that is the toughest,” Meredith said. “I feel the most pressure is on me. They give me the lead. I have to maintain it. A lot of times, the last runner is always the fastest, so I was just running scared the whole time. That’s what makes me run my best, I think. My coaches won’t put me anyplace else because they like me running scared.”
Note that Meredith feels pressured more by the possibility of letting down her teammates than getting run down by an opponent.
“I have the luxury of having one of the top 400 runners in the state,” McGuire said. “I’m guessing this year she’s top three. She competes with a baton in her hand maybe better than anyone.”
With a moving start, and no reason to slow down for a handoff, anchor runners can cut a good half-second off their time from the open 400. McGuire said Meredith is consistently at least 2 seconds faster.
Meredith is a gymnast, which McGuire said gives her the strength to do a number of other events, except that she’s just too valuable anchoring two relay teams and running any sprint she’s needed in.
Another 4.0 student, Meredith is headed to Brigham Young to study medicine with running possible, pediatrics probable.
Don’t look back…
The good thing about this team is it can’t rest on its laurels. Nickerson, a junior who replaces Wagar on the 400 relay team, could fill a spot, along with sophomore Jessie Torres and freshman sensation Jenny Summers.
“I don’t think any of us would let that happen,” Meredith said. “We’ve built up this expectation that we’re on it and we’re not going to change it. It’s a motivation for us to work harder every day in practice. But if they did, they earned it. We’d still be OK.”
The team is close knit, but realistic.
“They get in a comfort zone; they’ve become a closed society,” McGuire said of his relay stars. “They’re tough enough, they’re going to work harder and not let that happen.”
At least not when it counts.
“It puts a lot of pressure on,” Gannon said. “If she’s better, put her on. I’m going to do everything I can to not let her take my spot, but I don’t want to take anything away from my team.
“I can tell we’re running faster than we were last year. It’s good to have someone pushing you. It also makes me feel good we will have someone here when (the seniors are) gone.”
TRACK AND FIELD GSL at a glance Defending league champions: Mead boys for 17 years, Mead girls for 6 years. State placings: Boys - University 1st, Mead 3rd, Mt. Spokane 5th, Ferris 8th. Girls - Lewis and Clark 10th. Divisions: A Division includes Ferris, Gonzaga Prep, Rogers, Shadle Park, University; B Division includes Central Valley, Lewis and Clark, Mead, Mt. Spokane, North Central. League championships: Top two in each division, boys on Wednesday, May 5, at B Division champion; girls on Thursday, May 6, at B Division champion. District meet: May 13-14 at CV, top eight (four relays) advance to regional. Regional meet: May 21-22 at CV, top four advance to state. State meet: May 28-29 at Tacoma. State champions returning (relays listed only if all runners return): Boys - Anthony Buchanan, U-Hi (100 meters); Kris Martin, U-Hi (800); Tom Becker, Mt. Spokane (1,600); Casey Clark, Mt. Spokane (high jump); Jeff Wineinger, U-Hi (pole vault). Girls - Central Valley 1,600 relay of Stephanie Crace, Wendy Wagar, Corinne Gannon, Leslie Meredith. State placers returning, boys: Joey Neuman, LC (2nd 1,600); Brad Walker, U-Hi (7th pole vault); Martin, (4th 1,600); Becker (2nd 3,200). State placers back, girls: Trina McQueen, Rogers (4th 100); Teresa Brooks, LC (2nd 200, 2nd 400); Carly Barnes, G-Prep (4th 1,600, 3rd 3,200); Jamie Rosenquist, LC (7th 1,600); Lanaia Jones, Shadle (6th 3,200); CV 400 relay (6th, Amy Nickerson, Crace, Gannon, Meredith); LC 1,600 relay (7th, Rosenquist, Gina Auffant, Mindy Noble, Brooks); Heather Harding, CV (7th shot put); Janelle Edington, Mead (2nd javelin); Casey Lektorich, U-Hi (6th javelin, 1997 state champion); Lara Nelson, LC (8th high jump). New coaches: Todd Bender, Ferris girls; Darren Nelson, North Central girls; Kelly Walters, North Central boys; John Traynor, Gonzaga Prep boys; Steve Kiesel, Rogers boys. Predicted order of finish, boys: A Division - Shadle Park, University, Ferris, Gonzaga Prep, Rogers. B Division - Mt. Spokane, Central Valley, Mead, Lewis and Clark, North Central. Overall: Shadle Park. Predicted order of finish, girls: A Division - Ferris, Shadle Park, University, Gonzaga Prep, Rogers. B Division - Central Valley, Mead, Lewis and Clark, Mt. Spokane, North Central. Overall: Ferris. The future: With East Valley joining the league in the fall, the GSL will return to one division. But, as in football, each league member will not compete against two others for a two-year cycle. There will be four weeks of three triple duals and a dual meet. At the end of the season, the top four teams will compete for the league title, the next four for places five through eighth and the bottom three go against each other.