‘Cats pounce on title
Mt. Spokane girls cross country coach Bob Barbero said following his team’s victories over Lewis and Clark and Gonzaga Prep on Wednesday that there’s no secret to being a successful distance runner.
He pointed to senior Jill Keller as Exhibit A.
Barbero’s Wildcats had taken a major step toward securing their second consecutive Greater Spokane League championship with a 24-33 victory over LC in a race between unbeatens at Manito Park by placing four runners among the first five places. Keller finished second.
Keller shadowed teammate Megan O’Reilly, finishing one second behind the Wildcats state track champion, to foil any hopes the Tigers had at victory.
“She was our No. 5 runner last year and just ran all summer,” Barbero said of Keller. “Jill ran 700 miles and attended two cross country camps. There’s no secret to this sport.”
The Mt. Spokane duo finished 10 seconds ahead of LC standout Whitney Porter, who had run with them for the entire 3-mile race, losing contact in the final sprint.
Mt. Spokane’s Shiloh Deitz and Jessica Klier, with a fast finish, took fourth and fifth. It didn’t matter that the next six runners were Tigers, the showdown belonged to Mt. Spokane.
“We were really hoping to be league champions again and worked so hard over the summer,” said O’Reilly. “Jill improved amazingly and it wouldn’t have been possible without her. She’s definitely the nucleus of the team.”
Keller said that in previous years she’d done little summer training. This summer, however, she put in high mileage and ran with O’Reilly for encouragement and support.
Her race effort, during a meet in which Mt. Spokane came in with an 8-0 record and LC was 9-0, was more of the same.
“I just looked at her back and focused on staying right there,” Keller said of the time differential (O’Reilly won in 19 minutes, 55 seconds). “It’s about all I could do. I’m really excited.”
It was more than enough. LC coach Mark Vandine said his team’s hopes hinged on Porter breaking up the 1-2 punch and having the rest of his team ahead of Klier.
“It didn’t quite happen,” Vandine said. “We got seven in front of their fifth runner, but didn’t want them to pack. Bob’s girls ran a great race and they deserve to be league champions. They were the ones picked to come in and do it and they earned it. Kudos to him and his ladies.”
Barbero, was equally complimentary of the Tigers, saying that both teams ran superb races.
Next week the Wildcats can wrap up their second consecutive GSL title with wins at Cheney against the Blackhawks, Clarkston and East Valley.
In other girls races, Mead tied LC for second at 10-1 with a sweep of North Central (5-5), East Valley (3-7) and Rogers (2-8) at Whitworth. Becca Noble of Rogers set a course record of 19:32. The Panthers won with depth by placing their five scorers between fourth and ninth places. … University (6-4) beat Shadle Park (7-4) and Clarkston (0-10), although Shadle’s Cami Nelson was individual winner at Liberty Lake Park in 19:50. U-Hi had the next four finishers, bunched within 39 seconds, and had six in the top 10. … Ferris (8-3) beat Cheney (3-7), Central Valley (4-7) and West Valley (1-9), with WV’s Larsen Agee winning at Ferris in 20:37. The Saxons placed their five scorers between second and eighth places.
Boys
LC was without its No. 4 runner, Brian Christensen, who missed the bus to the meet and watched the race against Mt. Spokane and Gonzaga Prep at Manito
“I had a little problem. I got started too late,” he admitted.
But it didn’t stop the Tigers (9-2) who moved into third place in the GSL with 26-29 and 17-42 wins over Mt. Spokane (6-4) and G-Prep (3-7). G-Prep’s top runner, Michael Skansgaard, did not finish the race.
Mt. Spokane’s Michael Hartanov sprinted to an easy victory, but fast finishes by LC’s Isaac Harmson, Justin Hofstee and Ryan Zentz, and Bobby Batch’s pivotal seventh-place finish carried the day.
Batch was tied with a Mt. Spokane runner during the race, with the meet hinging on which runner would finish ahead.
Batch’s three teammates swapped places in the pecking order.
“Justin is typically our No. 1 runner,” said LC coach Chris Morlan, “but Isaac and Ryan are close in workouts, so it was no surprise.”
Hofstee tried to stay with Hartanov early, but the key to the win, said Morlan, was the fact that summer conditioning has enabled his runners to maintain a steady pace through the duration of a 3-mile race.
Elsewhere, GSL leader Ferris, which improved to 11-0 with wins over Central Valley (5-6), West Valley (3-7) and Cheney (1-9) moved closer to the league title. Brendan Chestnut, Robert Cosby, Ben Poffenroth and Stephen Olson of Ferris claimed the top four places. … East Valley’s Nick Atwood won the race, but Mead (10-1) breezed over North Central (8-2), the Knights (5-5), and Rogers (0-11) with the next four finishers, Laef Barnes, Taylor Nepon, Steven Gimpel and Brian Palmer. … Shadle Park (7-4) nipped University (4-6) 27-29 and beat Clarkston (1-9) in a taut race decided at the top. Shadle’s Peter Miller edged Bill McElroy of U-Hi by one second. Shadle had the third- and fourth-place finishers as well.