Over hill and dale, ’Cats run well at home

Array

September 20, 2008 1:00 am
Runners charge up the first of many hills at the Wirth Farm at the start of Thursday’s boys cross country race. Oak Harbor’s Tyler King
Runners charge up the first of many hills at the Wirth Farm at the start of Thursday’s boys cross country race. Oak Harbor’s Tyler King

Tuning up for this weekend’s trip to Seaside, Oregon, for the Oregon Invitational cross country meet, the Oak Harbor Wildcats hosted their only home meet of the season Thursday afternoon over the hilly course at the Wirth Farm against teams from Stanwood and Everett.

Competing as individuals but running as a team, the Oak Harbor girls finished together in a dead heat for seventh through 10th places in a time of 23 minutes and 8 seconds.

Race timers could take their pick between Jessica Denmon, Kathryn Fisken, Adrianna Royal and Alison Duvenez as to which runner finished in what place — they all crossed the finish line as one.

Coming in just a few steps behind the group in a time of 23:19, good enough for 11th place, was Oak Harbor’s Kimberley Kyle.

Coach Eric Peterson said the way the team finished was part of the strategy for the meet.

“We decided to stay together because we have that big invitational on Saturday,” Fisken said. “We decided to wait for that and push it.”

Jade Boersta from Stanwood won the race in a time of 20:29, and other Spartan runners finished second, third, fourth and sixth.

Despite finishing second in the team standings, the Wildcats were happy with their performances.

“We all ran hard together and we tried to stay together as a pack and finish strong,” Denmon said.

“Teamwork. Go Wildcats,” Kyle added with a shout.

In the boys half of the meet, Oak Harbor’s Tyler King was the winner in a time of 16:41.

“I wanted to stay behind the leader for the first two miles and then see how hard I could go the last one,” he said.

Other top 20 finishers for the Wildcats were Josh Duhrkoph 3rd (17:39), Cody Klauer 5th, (17:47), Matt Bolte 15th (18:37) and Colton Elliot 16th (18:38).

“We’re really proud and excited about how they’re coming along,” Peterson said. “They’re running like they’re supposed to and we’ll get into competition and see how they stack up against the other teams in the WesCo.”

Saturday’s Oregon Invitational is scheduled to have over 150 teams competing.

“They run on three different courses over the day,” Peterson said. “They have an easy, medium and difficult course, and there is a random draw for which course you run on. It should be a lot of fun.”