MHC Relays

MHC RELAYS @SANDY HS
6 SEPTEMBER, 2006
4 x (almost) one mile (1550m) relay

For the first time in recollection, the MHC Relays were not held at Centennial HS, instead moving to the site of October’s MHC District Meet, Sandy HS. The course at Sandy, despite not venturing into their famous forest, was quite a bit more challenging than the Centennial layout and was likely worth a full mile on a track. The warm weather did not seem to have an effect on our troops’ efforts, but it was, in fact, a pretty hot day.


The Rams put together 5 ¾ teams this year, by far our largest group ever. In the JV race there were numerous fine performances. Freshman BOB KNODELL improved over a minute from his time trial effort only six days earlier while TIM BAUMAN also made a big jump. Freshman CASEY MINNICK ran a solid leg in only his second day on the team. Soph MATT HOLMES showed great promise with a sub-6:00 leg.


JAMES McCOLLUM (5:52) ran a strong lead off leg for the JV ‘B’ team, and CURRAN CARLILE looked fantastic at 5:35; Curran also proclaimed his knee to be pain free on this day. Frosh GABE LATHROP competed well despite running his entire leg solo.


The JV ‘A’ team was intent on winning their race, and each member contributed to an exciting victory. Soph CONOR CAMPBELL led off in 5:40 – even though he took a tumble in the first 200m – and exchanged in 2nd place; the David Douglas runner leading apparently did not have a full team so frosh EVERETT STILLEY found himself locked in a duel with a Reynolds runner for the lead. Once, twice, three times Everett fell behind the Raider, and each time he fought back. In the last 50m Everett inched ahead to give HEW COMMEREE a slight lead, having run a stellar 5:32. Hew knew what to do with the lead Everett had worked so hard to forge, and he simply ran away, clocking 5:18. AARON PECORA wasn’t about to give back what his teammates had earned, and the ever-improving junior timed 5:28 in a solo run. It was a nice win for this group, particularly in light of the fact that we ran three varsity teams – and three other varsity-level athletes were held out due to injury precaution.


In the varsity race David Douglas’ Tim Roady took the early lead, and only junior ZACH MARX was able to go with him past halfway. SAM WOTIPKA was solidly in third, with JOEL TURKHEIMER gradually moving up. At the exchange Marx was a close 2nd (4:45) with Wotipka closing quickly in 3rd (4:47), well up on Turkheimer (4:55).


Our #2 runners were the three promoted from the JV race, PETER SLAUSON, AUSTIN JONES, and CONOR ROLAND. All three ran with great pride, Jones (5:04) ultimately overtaking Slauson (5:11) to move the team into 2nd. Roland was flying around the course in 5:01 to keep his team in the chase; last year he ran 5:46 as a frosh. NICK TURNER and TAYLOR BERGMANN both ran solid legs (4:59 & 4:58) but DD’s Grant Lewis clocked 4:52 to move them into an almost insurmountable lead. It didn’t matter to KEVIN O’MALLEY who looked very strong indeed with a smoking 4:43 effort to give SAMOT TURINA an outside shot at the win. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as the Scot’s Jared Correll gave up only a second to our soph’s 4:42. Not far behind, LUKE WILTSHIRE, still, getting over illness, ran 4:44 while TAYLOR MORGAN was running the fastest leg of the day, 4:36.


All in all, it was a fine effort by our young harriers. With a tough few workouts over the last ten days and the beginning of school this week, it would not be surprising if some of them appeared sluggish; on the contrary, virtually everyone ran with great competitive spirit. The confidence with which this group carries itself – knowing that their biggest races are far off – and the attention to the details of their training and racing bode well for those most important competitions in the future.


Next up for the Rams is the Wilsonville Invitational at Wilsonville’s Memorial Park. Our boys – all of them (including David Beltramo, David Laney, and, hopefully, Musa Ahmed) – race at 12:30. With one of our rivals, Lincoln HS, competing, it promises to be a very entertaining event. Hope to see you there.