Building on a Legacy: 55th Annual Max Jensen Invitational - By Mackenzie Schulz

The 55th annual Max Jensen Invite, also known as the Richland Invite, is one of the biggest cross-country meets for schools all across Washington state, hosting 28 high schools and 13 middle schools this year. This meet takes place at Carmichael Middle School, and its course contains the infamous Carmichael Hill.

Photo: Gustavo Calderon

This meet is named after Max Jensen, a former Richland cross country and track coach from 1964-1974. Jensen is one of the coaches responsible for growing cross country as a sport statewide. He made the Richland program a cross-country power in the early 1970s, winning three straight boys' state titles before Mike Hepper took over. Hepper’s team continued Jensen’s legacy and won state the following two years. Currently, coach Bruce Blizard and his team are working hard to build on Jensen’s legacy. 

To many cross-country teams, the draw of the Richland invite is its difficult course, consisting of two trips up and down Carmichael Hill and otherwise relatively flat regions. The course gives their runners a chance to push themselves in a different way than most courses provide. “This course is by far the hardest one we race mainly because of the hill and also lack of shade,” Lilly Robertson, a senior runner for Richland, explains. “However, it’s nice that it’s only two laps because it makes it seem shorter and less repetitive” 

Photo: Gustavo Calderon

Luckily for Richland, they get an advantage to practice running the Carmichael Hill. “Last week, our two workout days were both hill workouts Blizard wanted to make sure we were comfortable and prepared for this race, so we hit the hills hard,” Bella Thompson, a senior runner for Richland, explained. “This week, we backed off training to recover.”

When asked whether he believed his team had a home-course advantage, Coach Blizard replied, “I think this year it might be because we have done more training on the course than in the past two years. We’ve run up Carmichael Hill a lot in the last three weeks, so our kids know it’s not going to kill them.”

Photo: Gustavo Calderon

Due to an injury, Josh Graves, one of Richland’s top runners, was unable to compete in the invite, leaving the boys' Varsity team with only six runners. Weston Freeze, a junior runner for Richland, has trained hard during the off-season, which in return has made him the top runner for Richland. Asked what his goal is for this meet, Freeze responded, “On Saturday, I'm aiming for a sub 17:17 time. There are a few guys on the other teams [I try to pace with] like Chiawana's Nate Beus, but I just try to beat as many people at the finish to score the lowest points for the team.”

As the Varsity boys line up at the start line, they get into set position and wait for the starting gun to fire. With a quick pull of the trigger, they are off to the races. At 1:30, the pack of runners start to make their way up Carmichael Hill. Freeze is leading the Richland runners, maintaining his position towards the front. At 4:50, the lead runners enter the soccer fields, and a minute later, they make their way out of the field, running along the fence next to Wellsian Way and then heading back to the hill. 

Within two minutes, the lead runners are starting their second and final trip up the hill, still maintaining their pace. Emmitt Warren, a junior from Chewelah, leads the pack and starts making it down the hill at 10:28. Freeze follows 10 seconds behind Warren. Immanuel Golyshevsky is the next Richland runner, heading down the hill at 12:30. 

Photo: Gustavo Calderon

The crowd of runners is now extended, and the lead runners are much more visible to the spectators. Warren is still in the lead as he exits the soccer field at 14:12, with Ian Cook, a senior from Nathan Hale, trailing right behind him. Freeze exits the field at 14:55. Golyshevsky will exit a little over a minute later than Freeze. On the stretch along Wellsian Way and loop back to the finish line, Cook passes Warren and takes 1st place with a time of 16:25.95, and Warren comes in 2nd at 16:26.36.  Freeze is the 1st Richland runner to cross the finish line at 17:12.41, taking 14th place. 

Overall, Jackson came in 1st with a score of 49. Central Valley got 2nd place, and Eisenhower got 3rd place. Richland placed 9th for boys. 

On the girls' team, Robertson explained her pacing strategy, “From my team, I usually try to stay with Abby Duncan, a junior...I’ve been racing with these girls for all of high school so I’ve been able to find out their racing strategies, and we really push each other.” In this race, Robertson is ranked No. 3 in the Mid-Columbia Conference. Her team is also strong and expected to do well in this meet.

The girls line up at the starting line, eager for the race to start. There is silence amongst the crowd until the fire of the starting gun. The girls start their journey towards the dreaded Carmichael Hill. At 1:35, the lead runners start to run up the hill. Robertson is within the top 15.  Heading down the hill, two minutes later, Robertson is in 9th and Duncan in 10th. Rebekah Shafer, a senior, is the next Richland runner to head down the hill, followed by Thompson. As the runners enter the soccer fields, Kylah Madariaga, a senior from Wenatchee, takes the lead. Robertson and Duncan are still in 9th and 10th place as they exit the field at 7:43. 

Photo: Gustavo Calderon

Roughly two minutes later, the runners are heading up the hill. Duncan pushes forward, passing two runners while on the hill and obtaining 8th place, with Robertson now in 10th place. Shafer is in 3rd for Richland, and Thompson in 4th.

The lead runners exit the soccer field at 15:35, and Selena Bangerter, a senior from Jackson, passes Madariaga, taking the lead. Duncan exits the field at 17:10 in 9th place, and Robertson follows 20 seconds later in 10th place. 

While on the last loop back to the finish line, Madariaga takes back 1st place and finishes at 18:07.75. Bangerter took 2nd at 18:15.79. Duncan is the 1st Richland runner to finish at 19:58.61, taking 9th place. Robertson took 10th place at 20:22.81.

Overall, Jackson took 1st place with 47 points, and Wenatchee took 2nd with 70 points. Richland placed 3rd with 96 points. 

Robertson’s response after the race was very insightful: “This race was really all about pushing through moments of struggle and discomfort. My goal was just to end on my feet, so finishing in general, was an accomplishment in itself. Although some races don’t have the results that I want, it’s reassuring and exciting to see my teammates have my back and keep us motivated throughout the race and after at practice.”

Coach Blizard is very complimentary to his teams and proud of how hard they work to improve. When talking about the season, he said, “Our senior girls, especially Lilly Robertson, Rebekah Shafer, and Bella Thompson, have set the tone for the younger runners since last winter when they were preparing for track season. The boys have trained as well as any team we’ve had for a while, led by seniors Immanuel Golyshevsky and Isaac Fraser. And I’m not sure we’ve ever had an athlete make more progress than Weston Freeze, who has been our No. 1 runner all season.” 

Watching the Richland cross country team is truly inspiring, with how hard they push themselves to be better every meet, along with cheering each other on the entire race. The culture they have created within this sport is amazing to witness. 

There is one final message from Weston Freeze, “We aren't football. However, the cross country teams appreciate having Bombers cheer us on, so find us on Oct. 17th at Lawrence Scott Park in Kennewick--JV starts @ 3 pm, followed by Varsity @ 4:30 pm.”