Girl runners win Cascade Conference championship

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The South Whidbey girls cross country team overcame all odds and won the Cascade Conference championship Saturday at Lakewood.

The boys team, shooting for a spot in the top three, came in third.

The win is important as the girls are peaking at just the right moment — this Saturday at District 1 finals they’ll test their running skills against 2A teams from other leagues on the road to qualify for state finals in Pasco on Nov. 4.

The girls team averaged 20 minutes, 35.6 seconds over the 3.1-mile course to beat Kings, Lakewood, Granite Falls, Archbishop Murphy, Cedarcrest and Sultan.

“We’ve run against these guys before,” said second-place finisher Katy Gordon. “We knew who to go after.”

Gordon’s strategy is to get a fast start, push the other girls in the middle and hold on.

“I’m not a sprinter at the finish so I need to be toward the front,” she said. Gordon said the whole Falcon team is excited; the chance of a spot at state is very real, especially with their recent performances.

The Bosman twins, Courtney and Cassie, agreed

“The coach doesn’t want us to be too overconfident,” Courtney said.

“He always wants us to try hard and do our best,” her sister Cassie added.

This weekend both girls plan to run a faster first mile and maintain a steady pace, a tactic that paid off against the Cascade Conference.

“We were a little concerned about Kings but we beat them. And everybody else,” Cassie Bosman said.

Runners on the boys team were happy with their performance at the conference meet.

Senior Jason Fitz said he feels great at this point in the season.

“I’ve been steadily improving all year. Of course, I’m basically a sprinter not a long distance runner so a fourth place for me was pretty good,” Fitz said. “And I’m happy that as a team we met our goal of getting into third place.”

Fitz said the pressure is on this week.

“We need to be intense; this is what we’ve been training for since last spring,” he said.

The top four teams and top 20 individuals qualify for state.

“The girls should move through pretty easily,” Falcon Coach Doug Fulton said. “The boys have a very tough challenge, but Jason has a good shot as an individual.”

Cascade Conference Championship

Girls results (68 entered)

2. Katy Gordon, 19 minutes, 24 seconds, 5. Courtney Bosman, 20:37; 8. Caroline Habel, 20:41; 10. Erica Johnson, 20:51; 13. Cassie Bosman, 20:58; 31. Jean Koelblinger, 23:10; 32. Jennifer Gemkow, 23:17; 47. Gwen Bakke, 25:12; 50. Casey Brasko, 25:40; 54. McKenzie Walker, 26:12; 57. Kelsi Lindus, 26:27; 64. Alea Robertson, 28:42; 66. Paige Billings, 29:52.

South Whidbey took first place out of six with an average time of 20:35.60.

Boys results (92 entered)

4. Jason Fitz, 17:48; 10. Kurt Warwick, 18:06; 17. Eric Stallman, 18:23; 26. Nick Rovang, 18:44; 28. Scott Stallman, 18:54; 35. Steven Gabelein, 19:14; 92. Jeff Brasko, 22:29.

The Falcons placed third of six with an average time of 18:23.

The District 1 championship will be held at Waterman Field beginning at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with the girls 2A race. The 2A boys compete at 1:30 p.m., and awards will be presented at 3 p.m.