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Posts Tagged ‘cross country’

Late start, fast finish

Posted in Cross Country, tagged CHS Wolves, cross country, George Spear, Marysville, Noelle Western, Twilight Invite on September 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolves (l to r) Aleksia Jump, Noelle Western, and Reagan Callahan are ready to fly. (Elizabeth Bitting photos)

They outran the dying light.

Competing in one of the few cross country events to take place in the late afternoon and evening, Coupeville High School harriers recorded strong times Saturday in Marysville.

The event was the 16th annual Twilight XC Invitational, which drew 90 teams from four states, and a bunch of unattached runners, to the Cedarcrest Golf Course.

“It was a great invite,” said Coupeville coach Elizabeth Bitting. “So glad we were finally able to make it!

“In the past Homecoming has conflicted with it, but not this year!”

There were 10 races, with the first one starting at 2:45 PM and the final one not sending runners flying until 7:00.

Hence, the name of the meet.

Coupeville sent 17 runners to the line, with all six varsity boys cracking 20 minutes on the 5,000-meter course.

The sub-20 minute club.

Sophomore Noelle Western had the top Wolf finish, claiming 53rd in a field of 267 in her royal rumble.

“They all ran amazing!” Bitting said.

“I know I always say I am proud of them, but I really, really am.

“All their hard work they are putting in is coming to fruition.”

The Wolves head back to practice with the start of the school week, returning to competition next Saturday, Oct. 7, when they travel to Arlington for the Hole in the Wall XC Invitational.

Ari Armstrong (left) and Erica McGrath get a photo op before their race.

Saturday results:

GIRLS:

Freshman/Sophomores:

Noelle Western (53rd) 24:03.6
Aleksia Jump (188th) 28:21.5
Reagan Callahan (243rd) 33:52.6

Juniors/Seniors:

Ari Armstrong (127th) 27:00.7
Erica McGrath (174th) 29:11.0

BOYS:

Varsity:

Landon Roberts (154th) 19:05.8
George Spear (158th) 19:08.3
Carson Field (167th) 19:18.8
Ezekiel Allen (201st) 19:51.7
Thomas Strelow (204th) 19:54.3
Kenneth Jacobsen (205th) 19:56.9

JV:

Freshman/Sophomores:

Axel Marshall (269th) 21:43.5
Zach Blitch (477th) 31:16.6

Juniors/Seniors:

Nicholas Wasik (217th) 21:26.8
Santi Ojeda (229th) 21:39.6
Preston Howard (246th) 21:58.3
Damy Giacobbe (416th) 30:00.00

Foreign exchange student Santi Ojeda enjoys his American experience.

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Hall burns up college trails

Posted in Cross Country, Wolves in college, tagged CHS Wolves, cross country, Indiana, Mitchell Hall, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Mitchell Hall (back, second from left) with his family. (Photo courtesy Maria Summers)

Always in motion, morning, noon, or night.

Coupeville grad Mitchell Hall continues to tear up the trails in college, and he was back in action Friday night in Terra Haute, Indiana.

Competing in the Nike Cross Country Town Twilight at the Laverne Gibson Championship Course, the former Wolf covered 8K in 29 minutes, 42.7 seconds.

That was just off Hall’s college PR of 29:10.2, as the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology finished second at the 12-team meet.

He’s run in three meets as a freshman, and returns to action Friday, Oct. 13 when Rose-Hulman travels to Wilmington College in Ohio for the Jenna Strong Fall Classic.

Hall, a standout student and track and cross country athlete during his time at CHS, is studying physics and mathematics.

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Wolves gallop in Granite

Posted in Cross Country, Middle School, tagged CMS Wolves, cross country, Cyrus Sparacio, Granite Gallop, Mikayla Wagner on September 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Rain? What rain? (Amber Wyman photos)

They were weather warriors.

Dodging liquid sunshine and slipping and sliding on the 1.7-mile course, Coupeville Middle School cross country runners held up well Thursday at the Granite Gallop.

The Wolf girls, who had five of the first 15 finishers, claimed 3rd in the team standings, while the CMS boys were 4th overall.

The event drew 161 runners from seven schools.

“We had a great, if very rainy day at Granite Falls!” said Coupeville coach Amber Wyman.

“The runners were up for the challenge of rain and mud!” she added. “They ran hard, and we came away with some strong finishes.”

The Wolves are off for a bit, returning to action next Friday, Oct. 6 at the Nike Hole in the Wall Cross Country Invitational at Lakewood.

“Wolves on three!”

Thursday results:

GIRLS:

Mikayla Wagner (11th) 13:10.98
Lillian Ketterling (12th) 13:11.78
Laken Simpson (13th) 13:23.15
Allie Powers (14th) 13:23.59
Anna Powers (15th) 13:26.64
Hazel Goldman (27th) 14:50.96
Mary Western (50th) 16:44.14
Claire Lachnit (51st) 16:44.64
Ava Lucero (70th) 18:18.46
Amelia Crowder (71st) 18:20.16
Hailey Goldman (72nd) 18:28.03
Elizabeth Marshall (73rd) 18:28.39
Devon Wyman (74th) 18:28.74

BOYS:

Cyrus Sparacio (20th) 12:27.70
Isaiah Allen (23rd) 12:45.08
Edmund Kunz (32nd) 13:10.93
Archer Schwarz (33rd) 13:12.04
Ossian Merkel (35th) 13:23.18
River Simpson (42nd) 13:34.60
Avery Eelkema (45th) 13:55.54
Johnathan Jacobsen (57th) 15:41.07
Christopher Zenz (58th) 15:42.05

Ferry life is the only life.

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Home cooking, flying feet

Posted in Cross Country, tagged CHS Wolves, cross country, Fort Casey, home meet, Noelle Western, Northwest League on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

George Spear flies down the trail Wednesday at Fort Casey State Park. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The rain stayed away, but the top times flowed down.

Putting three runners in the top seven Wednesday, the Coupeville High School boys’ cross country team defended its home turf at Fort Casey State Park, winning a six-team home meet.

Meanwhile, the Wolf girls, paced by another stellar performance from Noelle Western, pushed Mount Vernon Christian hard, with only nine points separating the two teams in the final tally.

Led by individual champ Evangeline Fikkert, the Hurricane girls finished with 23 points to Coupeville’s 32.

Noelle Western cruises to a 5th place finish.

On the boy’s side of things, the Wolves edged MVC 39-55, though the ‘Canes did have an individual winner in Isaac Betz.

Friday Harbor (73), Orcas Island (86), and Evangel Classical (98) rounded out the team standings.

Lummi Nation also sent runners but didn’t have a full squad.

All the Wolves come off the starting line at the same time.

Wednesday’s meet, the lone home event for Coupeville, played out on a redesigned course covering 5,000 meters.

With retired CHS track coach Randy King on hand to be the official race starter, things kicked off with a big rush, as the girls and boys competed at the same time.

With the weather cooperating, and Coupeville Middle School coach Amber Wyman stepping up to take the reins as race director, it made for a pleasant day all around.

“Great afternoon!!!,” said CHS harrier coach Elizabeth Bitting.

“So many compliments on the beautiful course, wonderful volunteers, shout out to the middle schoolers who stepped up and helped out. Can’t wait for them to run this course next season.”

Volunteers like Sherry Bonacci were invaluable to bringing off a successful meet.

With coaching duties calling to her, Bitting needed someone to run the race, and Wyman knocked it out of the park.

“This was very hard for me to do — give control of my baby to somebody else,” Bitting said with a laugh.

“But Amber is AMAZING and did GREAT!”

Coupeville returns to action this Saturday, Sept. 30, when it travels to the Cedarcrest Golf Course in Marysville for the 16th annual Twilight XC Invitational.

Wednesday results:

GIRLS:

Noelle Western (5th) 24:47.69
Ari Armstrong (14th) 27:41.44
Aleksia Jump (15th) 28:28.76
Erica McGrath (17th) 30:23.69
Reagan Callahan (18th) 30:27.44

BOYS:

George Spear (4th) 19:17.39
Carson Field (5th) 19:32.77
Landon Roberts (7th) 19:41.55
Ezekiel Allen (10th) 20:02.63
Kenneth Jacobsen (13th) 20:18.80
Thomas Strelow (14th) 20:27.07
Nicholas Wasik (25th) 21:47.88
Preston Howard (29th) 22:14.56
Santi Ojeda (30th) 22:17.71
Axel Marshall (31st) 22:30.01
Zach Blitch (43rd) 30:54.28
Damy Giacobbe (44th) 33:52.55

Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith ponders the meaning of the universe while tabulating times.

To see more photos from this race, pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/CHS-Cross-Country-2023-2024/XC-2023-09-27-at-Ft-Casey/

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Long hours, deep impact

Posted in coach chatter, tagged Bobby Carr, CHS Wolves, CMS Wolves, coaches, cross country, Elizabeth Bitting, football on September 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf assistant football coach Tyler Casey eyeballs the gridiron action. (Jackie Saia photo)

It’s easy to sit in the stands and tell the world you know how things should be run.

But it’s a lot harder to get off your duff, go through the process, and emerge as a coach capable of actually shaping the destinies of high school and middle school athletes.

The pics above and below capture some of the men and women who have chosen the harder path.

Wolf Nation would not be the same without them, or their coaching counterparts.