SP girls stay to plan
Shadle Park girls cross country coach Bob Isitt’s plan was simple Wednesday.
If his top three runners finished 1-2-3, the Highlanders would win their Greater Spokane League opening duals on the 3-mile course at Audubon Park.
Katie Morris, Kendra Weitz and Chelsea Chandler obliged. Morris and Weitz finished essentially side by side in 19 minutes, 20 seconds and Chandler was 20 seconds behind in third. They finished well ahead of Central Valley’s top runners.
CV runners took the next five spots. In fact, the Bears’ sixth finisher (five of a team’s seven runners are scored in duals) finished ahead of Shadle’s fourth runner.
It didn’t matter. The Highlanders secured wins over CV (25-30) and Ferris (11-44) by sweeping the first three places. In the other dual, CV downed Ferris 15-40.
CV was picked to capture the league title and Shadle, the defending State 3A champ, was projected second.
“Our top three girls ran according to plan,” Isitt said. “They (the Bears) were missing a couple of their top runners, but I’ll take the win. CV is awfully good. Their depth is amazing.”
Morris, Weitz and Chandler had no difficulty putting space between themselves and the Bears. In fact, Morris thought the overall pace was slow.
“Our time was pretty slow for what we’d normally get, but that’s because we didn’t have others pushing us,” Morris said. “I know we definitely could have gone harder. (Taking the top three spots) should be a pretty common thing in league.”
The challenge for Isitt is to get his fourth through seventh runners to tighten the gap.
“It’s our first race of the year and I think maybe our newbies need some experience,” Isitt said. “They’ve run better in time trials than today. They’re great kids. I think they just felt the pressure today.”
In the boys, Nathan Weitz of Shadle Park pulled away from the pack at the 2-mile mark as he cruised to victory in 15:48, 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Alex Kimsey of Ferris.
Ferris’ boys swept, topping Shadle 20-35 and CV 21-35 while CV held off Shadle 25-30.
Weitz sacrificed his time for the good of the team.
“Pretty much the main focus today was to go out the first 2 miles with the pack to help along the team so they wouldn’t go so much into oxygen debt,” Weitz said. “I’m happy with the time. I wasn’t going for all-time (best). It was to help out my team.”
• In other GSL openers, the Mt. Spokane boys topped Mead 24-31 and Rogers 15-40 while Mead defeated Rogers 15-40 at Seimers Farm. Andrew Gardner of Mead won in 15:22, 34 seconds ahead of Hunter Johnson of Mt. Spokane. In the girls, Mead downed Mt. Spokane 22-36 and Rogers 15-40 while Mt. Spokane defeated Rogers 15-40. Baylee Mires of Mead won in 19:30, 13 seconds ahead of Molly Cole of Mt. Spokane. …
At a new course at Manito Park, University’s boys edged Lewis and Clark 27-28. Kenji Bierig of LC took first in 16:38 and Jon Smith of U-Hi (16:46) was second. In the girls, LC downed U-Hi 22-35. Hannah Allen (20:54) led a 1-2-3 finish by the Tigers. … At Finch Arboretum, Casey Adams led five straight North Central boys across the line in 17:09. From first to fifth they were separated by 26 seconds as NC topped Gonzaga Prep 15-48. In the girls, G-Prep slipped past NC 26-30. Katie Knight of NC took first in 20:22 and Taylor Cherry and Audrey Hiatt of G-Prep were one minute behind her.
Great Northern League
In a league-opening dual at Beachview Park in Clarkston, East Valley’s girls edged the Bantams 27-30. Pullman also participated but didn’t have enough runners for a team score.
Megan Denzin of EV won in 20:33, well ahead of runner-up Kari Scharnhorst of Clarkston (21:37).
In the boys, EV had a pair of wins, topping Pullman 20-36 and Clarkston 19-38 while Pullman defeated Clarkston 26-30.
Cody Edwards of EV beat two teammates to the finish, winning in 17:00 – 2 seconds ahead of Jaren Novakovich.
• Also in the league, the Cheney girls defeated host Deer Park 25-32. Sanne Holland of Cheney (20:04) finished 50 seconds ahead of teammate Amie Zachman. In the boys, Deer Park tripped Cheney 28-29. Dayde Collins of DP was first (17:15) and Nash Springberry of Cheney (17:29) took second. … Champions Alex Coburn (18:24) and Mariah Martin (23:18) led West Valley’s sweep of visiting Medical Lake at Plantes Ferry Park.