Cross Country Results 2007

October 18, 2007

The skies opened up and the sun peeked through the clouds as nine Olympic teams prepared to race for the league title on Thursday.  Conditions were nearly perfect and Port Townsend was ready to compete with the bigger schools for the championship title. The Boys varsity tied with Port Angeles for the League title, but came up short with the 6th place runner, Peninsula 63, Port Townsend 62, Port Angeles 62.  Today we learn something very significant…every runner counts!  Every runner needs to perform their best in order for the team to be successful. Losing the League title was a huge lesson for us all, but better learned here at the League championships rather than at the state competition.  I believe we will not make that mistake again.

Three JV boys raced their last race of the season competing well.  Jacob DeBerry, the 1st of the Redskin JV finishers,  running in 19:25, followed closely by Garrett  Young in a time of 20:09.  Finishing his lifetime best was Raven Houghtaling in a time of 27:40.  The JV er’s certainly ran well this year keeping pace with the varsity and rounding out the boys team.

The Girls Varsity was lead by Kathryn Atkinson placing 21st in a time of 22:23.  Emily Kunz and Ashley Lynes finished 29th and 30th with times of 23:04 and 23:07 respectively.  The girls have been working hard under Coach Janine Sanford hoping to place in the top 15th in districts to qualify for the state meet.

This weekend will determine the state competitors for the following weekend in Pasco.  West Central District Meet will be held this Saturday, Oct 27th at American Lake Golf Course.  2A Girls race at 11:30 followed by the boys 2A at 2pm.  Top 3 teams from each 2A race and top 15 finishers will move on to Pasco. 

September 30, 2007

This past week PT and Chimacum runners competed against Bremerton and Kingston at NAD Park in Bremerton.  It was a short course all on trails with good weather conditions.  The Boys JV race was won by Mitch Harper in 16:02.  Jacob DeBerry ran his first race of the season on junior varsity, placing 3rd  with a time of 16:28.  Rounding out the JV team was Garrett Young who placed 6th in a time of 17:06. 

Kathryn Atkinson was PT’s first finisher in the Girls Varsity race placing 6th at 19:52 while her teammates Ashley Lynes and Emily Kunz finished in 20:16 and 20:53 respectfully.

The boys finished strong winning the Varsity race with 25 points.  Quinton Decker ran 13:36 for an easy win followed closely behind by Bereket Piatt in 2nd place with a time of 13:45.  Jeremy Anderson ran as a unattached runner waiting for WIAA approval to compete as a PT athlete running only 22 seconds behind his teammate, Bereket in a time of 14:07.  Hatambu Rubio came in 5th  with at time of 14:26, followed by Jaydee Dodd in 8th place at 14:38.  Teammates Kevin Rubio and Andy Danner were not far behind placing 12th and 21st , 15:33 and 17:23 respectfully.

Saturday, PT runners traveled to Bremerton for the King’s West Invite.  Rain and wind didn’t prevent the boys varsity team from winning their race with 18 points.  The PT crew went 1-2-3 in the race.  Quinton Decker won the race with a new course record of 15:13.  Bereket Piatt was 2nd (15:44) and Jeremy Anderson crossed in 3rd place (16:11).  Kevin Rubio placed 9th in 16:52.  Mitch Harper finished 27th in 18:25.

The boys JV runners placed well with senior Andy Danner placing 5th at 18:30 and Conakry Coggins running his first race of his high school career, placing 7th in a time of 18:52.   

The PT girls showed strength on the course with Kathryn Atkinson, Ashley Lynes, and Emily Kunz.  Kathryn placed 11th in a time of 21:22, Ashley placed 12th only 11 seconds back from Kathryn in a time of 21:33.  Emily Kunz placed 21st in a time of 23:18.

Port Townsend runners have 2 home meets this week, Wednesday and Saturday at Fort Worden.  Wednesday, the Redskin runners compete against North Mason and Olympic.  Racing begins at 4pm with  JV race followed by varsity.  Saturday’s event is the 10th annual Fort Worden Invite. Thirteen schools are expected to compete with racing beginning at 9:30 am. An open race for all community members, as well as coaches and multi-sport athletes will be the first event.   PT Redskin’s football team is expected to challenge the Chimacum Cowboys in the 5K open race.  Commemorative T-shirts will be available at the site. 

Peninsula / Klahowya, and PT - September 19

Port Townsend competed at Peninsula on Wednesday, September 19th, along with Klahowya.  Peninsula is a 3A school, so the competition was good for the athletes.  The girls, coached by Janine Sanford continue to improve.  Kathryn Atkinson, running her 1st cross country race ever, placed 7th with a time of 26:15.  Veteran, Emily Kunz placed 9th just behind Kathryn, with a time of 26:53.  Ashley Lynes, from Chimacum, was not able to compete due to illness.

On the boys team, Andy Danner worked his way back to the Varsity level by running well in the JV race with a time of 21:35, placing him in the top 7, qualifying for varsity at the next meet with Bremerton on Wednesday, September 26th.  Garrett Young placed 9th in the JV race in a time of 22:25.  Jacob DeBerry ran well in his 1st race of the season with a time of 21:59.

The boy’s varsity race was won by Quinton Decker in a course record time of 17:58. The old course record was 18:26.  Quinton’s teammate, Bereket Piatt, also broke the course record, placing second with a time of 18:17.  Jeremy Anderson finished 5th at 18:50, which did not count as team points due to an agreement to combine PT and Chimacum schools as a team, in process .  Currently, Chimacum runners are not able to score for the team until Port Townsend and Chimacum fulfill WIAA requirements to combine the schools for cross country.  Both schools are working hard to complete the process as soon as possible to provide eligibility for Chimacum runners to compete as cross country athletes with Port Townsend.  Completing the team, Jaydee Dodd finishing 8th in 19:22,  Kevin Rubio, 10th in a time of 20:01, Habtamu Rubio, Kevin’s brother, finished in 9th in 20:04.  Mitchell Harper finished 17th in a time of 21:55.  The boy’s team placed a close second to Peninsula with 31 points versus Peninsula’s 29.  Klahowya finished 3rd with 68 points.

Port Townsend will compete against Bremerton and Kingston on Wednesday, September 26th at NAD Park in Bremerton and again on Saturday at the King’s West invite in Poulsbo.

Salt Creek Invite - September 15

The Port Townsend runners continue to run well at Salt Creek Invite last Saturday in Port Angeles. 

The JV boys finishing strong with Habtamu Rubio placing 4, Kevin Rubio placing 33rd, and Garrett Young placed 89th.

The Varsity Boys placed 10th overall as a team amongst 24 teams, many of them 3A and 4a schools.  PT ousted out Sequim and came within 25 points of PA.  Top finishers for boys were Quinton Decker 4th place with a personal best 15:28, hitting his 1st mile at 4:44.  Bereket Piat was a close second for the team at 15th place in a time of 15:54 followed by Jeremy Anderson, 54th at 16:53.  Jaydee Dodd placing 99th with a time of 17:44, followed by Mitch Harper 115th in a time of 18:12, and Andy Danner placing 153rd in a time of 20:30.

The Varsity girls cranked it up a notch with Ashley Lynes placing 106th in a time of 23:37 and Emily Kunz placing 112th in a time of 24:13.

Overall, PT was very competitive and is looking strong to compete well within the Olympic League.  All of the athletes are healthy and showing signs of improving.  Our job as coaches is the same… keep them healthy and motivated!

PT looks to run against Peninsula and Klahowya this Wednesday at McCormick Creek State Park in Gig Harbor.  Races begin at 4pm.