Mitchell Hall had the fastest time of any CHS boy during a pandemic-altered cross country season. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Nozomi Hagihara was one of 13 Wolves to letter/
First in the clubhouse.
Cross country outsprinted four other Coupeville High School programs to become the first fall sport to honor its athletes for their performance during a pandemic-altered season.
Wolf coach Elizabeth Bitting handed out varsity letters to 13 of her runners Thursday, after first praising them for their refusal to quit, no matter how hard things may have gotten at times.
“Some of you began this crazy season last June and here we are, just about a year later, finally finishing up,” she said.
“I first want to thank those runners for sticking around for that long,” Bitting added. “You could have gotten frustrated and thrown in the towel but you stuck with it.
“Thank you!”
One of the highlights of a four-race season was the chance to host two of those meets at Coupeville’s new home course at Fort Casey State Park.
The second of those two home tilts was the Northwest 2B/1B League Championships, where Wolf senior Catherine Lhamon capped an undefeated season by winning a title by a solid minute-and-a-half.
Lhamon’s best time of 23 minutes, 43 seconds stands as a course record, along with sophomore Mitchell Hall, who zipped to the finish line in 19:23.
Bitting tallied up all of Coupeville’s times from that first home meet, the season opener, then compared them to the finale.
The Wolves as a team went from a combined 5:45.40 to 5:15.29.
“That’s a 30-minute improvement. Impressive!!!,” Bitting said. “There were six of you that PR’d from a very flat course to our gently rolling hilled course!
“Who does that? Who PR’s from a flat course! Great job!!!”
The biggest improvement from opener to finale belonged to Alex Merino-Martinez, who dropped 5:34, and Lhamon, who chopped off 3:17.
With a shortened season, Bitting opted for two ways a Wolf could letter.
They could finish in the top half of a race, which Lhamon, Helen Strelow, Cristina McGrath, Hall, Hank Milnes, and Reiley Aracely did.
Or they could improve their time from their first race to their last race, which seven other Wolves did.
Varsity letter winners:
Reiley Araceley
Alex Bowder
Josh Guay
Nozomi Hagihara
Mitchell Hall
Catherine Lhamon
Cristina McGrath
Alex Merino-Martinez
Hank Milnes
Grant Steller
Helen Strelow
Alex Wasik
Tate Wyman
Certificates of Participation:
Erica McGrath
TJ Rickner
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