The "Run-Down": Ultimook XC Race

Fifty is a nice round number. That is how many Panthers we had compete at the 2015 Ultimook Cross Country Meet. WOW! This year, it took two buses to get us down there (it only took one to get us back thanks to the strong showing of Panther Parents that made the trek down to watch the day of). The camp out prior to the race the included the showing of the inspirational McFarland USA movie and a surprise guest underneath Abby Lees' tent as a mole decided to attack her (or maybe it was just trying to claim the position of temporary mascot).

The middle school girls were first on the docket on Saturday morning. After finishing 3rd last year as a non-scoring 6th grader, 7th Grader Olivia Dinnel moved up one slot placing 2nd by just 4 seconds. As this trend continues, we are all anxious to see if she progresses to the top of the podium in 2016. 8th Grader Morgan Stinchfield bolted out in the top ten through the mud pit with first time racer 7th grader Kylie Davidson as the adrenaline flowed strong. Morgan faded to 23rd, still an improvement over 2014. Both learned quickly that it will be better to start in the middle and move up to the lead pack instead of the reverse. 7th Grader Meryl Keeler demonstrated that she will be a force in the future as she easily placed in the upper half of the field of 127, but the biggest Panther smile in the race came from 8th Grader Emma Speath, not because we did not lose her tent this year, but because she ran a fabulous race. The girls placed a solid 4th of 7, which was acceptable considering we were missing two of our other star 7th graders that usually pace along the side of Olivia. Both of them should have moved the team up into 2nd.

After dominating the MS Boys race in 2014, and not returning our top 4 runners from last year, we were pleasantly surprised when the Panthers place three runners in the top 10 and eight in the top 23. 7th grader Jonathan Wells dominated the field with a 25 second win and his 8th grade teammates Dillon Tuite and Jackson Keyser captures 8th and 9th on fabulous finishing kicks. Two 7th grade newcomers to XC rounded out the scoring five: Jace Poulson and Sam Lewis placed 15th and 17th to solidify the team win by 12 points over a fine Newberg team. A barrage of Panthers packed it in with 21st to 23rd place to show incredible depth; this included 7th graders Eli Sassmannhausen and Ethan Mills, and 8th grader Derek Lawton, who was highly inspired by the movie the night before! However, one more Panther inspired us all as 8th grader Hayden Stinchfield improved 3 minutes over last year's race, proving that he wants to be a scoring factor in the future.

We also had a couple of Panther Future Stars jump into this race at the last minute. Even though they are only in 5^th grade, the inseparable duo of Garrett Owens and Joseph Normandeau got the green line by the race director to participate, enjoy the mud pit and they managed to place in the upper half (44^th and 45^th out of 96). Hopefully they will continue at this race for three more years before joining the High School ranks and make an impact on Panther XC in a big way.

Our HS girls were now ready to take the stage. Highlights came from Junior Courtney Owens as she ran a comfortable 2nd place, showing she is super fit and ready to roll. Classmate Sonata Jensen-Meyer managed her first XC race at the future Varsity level and senior Meredith Collins finally got to experience the mud pit after missing out the prior two years. Freshman Annabelle Palmer made the statement that she plans to contribute to the success of the team as she easily placed in the upper half. The team score (varsity only as we did not have enough for two complete teams) put the girls in the upper third of 21 complete teams. There were several other incomplete teams that would probably put us in the upper quarter, even though we are not in great shape yet.

Even though we were missing a couple of varsity senior boys that would have added to the depth of our Future Varsity boys team, the Panthers truly dominated that race, winning by 29 points! Three Panthers (all freshmen) made the top podium: Warren Henderson (5th), Ian Palmer (6th) and Andrew McElhaney (10th). Solid races from fellow freshman Trent Lowe (24th) and Sophomore Michael Stevens (20th) secured the win for the Panthers at that level.

The Varsity boys were confident as they stepped up to the starting line. Freshman Gabriel Dinnel showed he can run with the big boys with an impressive 3rd place finish in 17:22. That was only 23 seconds off the freshman record, so considering the difficulty of the course, it should rank right up there as the finest freshman performance ever for a Panther. Junior Aiden Pullen "kicked" Senior Bailey Duncan out of the top ten with his finishing kick, and Freshmen Troy Prince-Butterfield and Koy Chaston landed in 18th and 28th place respectively as the Varsity boys secured the sweep of the boys team competition.

A strong majority of the 50 Panthers went straight home with smiles on their faces or to the Tillamook Cheese factory for an incredible ice cream treat.

Next up for the panthers is the Hood River Valley race next Wednesday. This race will have both the MS and HS teams.

Coach Terry L. Howard

Here are the line scores:

Varsity Boys		5000 M
Gabriel	3^rd	17:22
Aiden	10^th	18:10.7
Bailey	11^th	18:13.2
Troy	18^th	19:26.9
Koy	28^th	20:16.8
Tanner	43^rd	20:47
Jeffrey	47^th	20:50.8
	Of 162
Future Varsity Boys
Warren	5^th	20:30.1
Ian	6^th	20:33.6
Andrew	10^th	21:24.0
Michael	21^st	22:54.8
Trent	24^th	23:15
Preston	43^rd	24:42.7
Bryan	52^nd	25:08.8
	Of 99
Varsity Girls
Courtney	2^nd	21:22.1
Hannah	12^th	23:30.5
Annabelle	58^th	26:30.5
Meredith	89^th	27:54.8
Lydia	93^rd	28:13.8
Tabby	96^th	28:29.8
Abby	130^th	33:24.7
	Of 143
Future Varsity Girls
Sonata	38^th	31:04.3
Jeannine	44^th	32:30.5
	Of 70
Novice Boys		3000 M
Ryan	19^th	15:07.2
	Of 71