PRs Galore at Richard Spring

Getting to race at Detweiller Park during the regular season is always a great learning experience. For some it results in times they didn’t know they could run, some learn how to navigate a full race field for the first time, others learn how to focus on your own race despite being surrounded by 600 other competitors. The Wildcats used the opportunity on Saturday to take some great steps forward as a team.

The day kicked off with the Open Girls race. Allison Behounek were both very aggressive from the run going through the first mile faster than either of them has all season. Both girls did a great job of finding the pace they could sustain the rest of the way and maintained a strong rhythm for the final two miles. Allison was rewarded with a lifetime PR, and Paige was recognized as one of the two First Penguin award winners for taking a chance to start the race.

Next up was the Frosh/Soph Girls race. The three headed monster of Sylvia Magemeneas, Lydia Velazquez, and Alyssa Link found each other right away and were stride from stride through the two-mile mark. Sylvia and Lydia picked up the pace the final mile and finished within seconds of each other, but all 3 girls were reward for their team effort with lifetime PRs. Cyan Bradley and Marisa Jacobs both got pull through a fast first mile and had to mentally battle to finish the race strong, but they both did and it paid off as they both ran season best (lifetime best for Jacobs) times.

Varsity girls showed a great team effort. Hannah Kilday led from up front with a PR, Hannah was willing to be aggressive at the start and then found her race at about the ¾ mile mark. Hannah has now run a season best every race this year. Next up were the super sophs Bridget Kemp and Selah Fornelli who ran stride for stride the entire race feeding off the energy of having a teammate to push you, they both ran season best times. The next three in all were within a few seconds, Carrie Kraft ran a great race as she made her way steadily through the field and picked up her teammates along the way to help bring everyone through the line strong. Carrie was also rewarded with a season best time. The girls finished 47^th, but also took a big step forward as a team and had a good chance to see some of the key teams that will be in the mix at Regionals and Sectionals.

After three girls races it was time for the boys, Varsity was up first. The boys were in one of the furthest east boxes which meant they had to get out fast or be in danger of being buried in the field with little space too move up. The guys who took the risk of getting out hard resulted in some strong times up front. Harlan Matson led the way for the team with a PR and his first time under 16. Harlan moved up very well the last mile as he passed 26 people the final mile. Next in was Arnold Arce who has dropped his PR from 17:41 last year to 16:14 this year. Tyler Schick was stride for stride with Harlan through 2K when he stepped on a walnut and tweaked his ankle, he gutted out the rest of the race and still managed to run a lifetime best. Michael Kawa also ran a season best time as he came up big as the team’s 5^th man. The guys finished 31^st out of 71 teams and also saw a good picture of what the teams we will be battling in the post season will look like when we match up.

The Frosh/Soph Boys had the chance to learn from varsity and see how getting out aggressive could be beneficially. Ubaldo Rodriguez as he has done all year when straight the front at the gun. Ubaldo ran his fastest opening mile of the season and then fought hard the last two miles and came away with his first time under 17. Last year Ubaldo’s PR was 17:58 this year he has now run 16:57. Adrianne Castillo has made huge improvements as well and Saturday was no different, he broke 19 for the first time as the number 3 man for the frosh/soph crew. Brogan Terry broke 20 for the first time. Stephen Cameron ran nearly a 25 second PR as the number 5 for the team. Troy Henschen also rounded out the race with a PR with some aggressive running.

The Open guys had seen 5 races before getting their chance and they took advantage of the opportunity, 6 of the 8 guys who raced ran season best of all-time best times. Asher Bradley stayed patient in the early stages and moved up to run under 18:30 for the first time this season. Colin Elder used a very aggressive first half mile to put himself in position, it paid off as he battled the rest of the way for a season best time. Luke Konow fought through the heat and ran a season best time. Diego Arce followed in his brother’s footsteps with a PR of his own, Diego used a very aggressive first mile that propelled him to a PR. Gabe Ibarra pushed through a strong field as he ran a season best time. Sophomore Aden Velajcic stayed with a steady pace throughout and was able to run nearly a 3 minute PR to break 30 minutes for the first time.

As a team we always talk about Kaizen, the idea of continual improvement. A great way to see that is from year to year when you have races on the same courses with similar conditions. Below is a list of the athletes who ran both last year and this year at Detweiller for Richard Spring and then ran faster this year. The sophomore crew has shown some incredible improvement with Castillo, Adair, Rodriguez and Terry leading the way.

The Wildcats are back in action next Saturday at the Macnider Invitational.