Bomber Boys, Girls take 3rd in First MCC XC Meet - by Kaya Chang
The very first MCC cross country meet of the season took place September 20th at the historic Fort Walla Walla Park. Nine teams were in attendance and four races transpired, including two junior varsity races, and two varsity races for boys and girls. The weather conditions to many were considered to be ideal for racing with a brisk breeze and temperature of 58 degrees. As a spectator though, it was indefinitely a chilly and cloudy day to be outside. The distance was 5k (3.1 miles) with the course being three laps around the park and a final half lap into the chute near the starting line. Many people showed up to this race and lined up along the flags eagerly with positive energy for all runners. Like all cross-country races, while the runners would go throughout the course, people would flock back and forth between different sides and angles of the park cheering on the athletes as they pushed.
For all four races, right as the gun sounded, all competitors dashed forward hoping not to get boxed in behind people seeing as the flags narrowed in about 200 meters from the start. Settling into their race pace, people would start breaking off into packs, a runner's strategy of keeping pace and blocking others from passing the team.
The girl’s varsity race was an especially exciting one to watch, seeing all of the talent and competition between the girls' teams. I was able to talk to two of the fastest girls in the MCC on Richland’s team before their races; Junior Lily Robertson and sophomore Abby Duncan, both ranked within the top ten in the league. I asked both girls about how they prepared for their race, and both stated that eating healthy foods with good nutrients was important to them as fuel. Abby ate some apples and Lily ate a plain bagel prior to their meet. I also asked them about their training schedule approaching this highly anticipated race, they both mentioned that during weekdays, the team would train in hard workouts such as sprinting, tempo runs, or long-distance runs, and then the day prior to the meet, they would go on an “easy run” so as to not injure themselves or overextend their legs keeping them fresh for race day.
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With many opponents and rising athletes, I asked Lily and Abby individually who their biggest competition was, both stating Meredith Stavenger, a Kamiakin runner and number six in the MCC, and MCC leading runner Mia Beightol of Hanford. The girls also said that Kamiakin's boys' and girls' teams were the tough competition to face this year.
I was also able to talk to varsity Bomber Bella Thompson, a junior, who told me that the weather being much cooler was a nice break from all the heat from previous races and that the course itself was unfavorable considering the uneven landscape and hill in the back of the route. Watching her footing, she had a very successful race.
For the Richland cross country team, the race was considerably a great one, many people achieved a season PR, Lily Robertson, coming in seventh overall with a time of 20:17 and Crew Martel placing fifth overall with a time of 16:31. I asked Coach Coleman, one of the many coaches at Richland High school, what the training process looked like for the runners, he told me that as the season advanced toward larger meets, the practice schedule that Richland head coach Bruce Blizzard had put together for the athletes was great for adapting and nurturing performance and recovery. Coleman also went on to say that because the team is so young, he wants them to focus on improving and competing at a higher level. He also mentioned with the middle schools in our district working on encouraging the kids, making the sport enjoyable, and not putting too much pressure on them, as they grow older and come to Richland, we can continue to funnel them into our program with more experience while recruiting new runners as generations go through the school. Coleman also wants to promote cross country through word of mouth to inspire rookies or people with no experience to join the team in the upcoming years. Agreeing with both Lily and Abby, Coleman stated that both Hanford and Kamiakin have a forceful team of runners and would deem them the biggest competition to Richland.
Overall, the meet was successful for the Boys Varsity team and the Girls Varsity team, both taking third place overall. Full results of the race can be found on athletic.net. The team will have its sights on a larger meet of 21 high schools this weekend, the 50th Annual Sungair Invitational at Franklin Park in Yakima.
