Pre-State TIME TRIAL

TRADITIONAL 1600m TIME TRIAL
28 OCTOBER, 2006
NIKE CAMPUS

In what has become a tradition now for our Rams, we gathered at the NIKE track for a one mile – well, in this case we ran exactly four laps for 1600m – time trial a week before the state meet. In previous years this run has confirmed for the boys that, despite an obvious lack of true “speedwork”, we are as fit was we can be in preparation for next week’s Oregon State Meet. While I am sad to say that not every member of the team ran the best “mile” of their life, there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the results.

The future varsity athletes, of course, all set new personal records. Junior TIM BAUMAN continued his season-long improvement as he ran 6:07; recall that he ran 7:08 two short months ago on this same track. Soph LUCAS WEISENSEE, who came out late this season, ran 5:49 while frosh GABE LATHROP zipped a fine 5:29. Sophs MATT HOLMES and CONOR CAMPBELL and freshman CURRAN CARLILE each ran exceptionally well, with Carlile’s 5:07.3 leading the charge.

For the varsity level runners there were some small setbacks – TAYLOR BERGMANN and NICK TURNER both DNF’ed due to injury precaution – and KEVIN O’MALLEY did an alternate workout in deference to his improving foot, but virtually everyone else looked very strong. Frosh PETER SLAUSON ran a fine 4:49.9 (converts to 4:30.1 for 1500m), a PR by about nine seconds from his best time as a middle schooler. Further up the track junior AUSTIN JONES was chopping just, oh, 16 seconds, from his best last year at 4:42.4 (4:23.1). Jones was just behind junior JOEL TURKHEIMER and senior DAVID LANEY, who turned in marks of 4:41.4 (4:22.1) and 4:40.7 (4:21.5). Laney’s effort was a two second PR.

Junior ZACH MARX ran 4:33.6, a few steps behind senior DAVID BELTRAMO’s 4:31.9 (4:13.3). Beltramo had run 4:14 as a sophomore before suffering a stress fracture; this effort clearly shows that he is primed for a great spring on the oval. Sophomore SAMOT TURINA was 4th in the race at 4:31.5 (4:12.9); his PR from last spring was 4:17.

The top three on this day were junior TAYLOR MORGAN and senior stalwarts LUKE WILTSHIRE and SAM WOTIPKA. Wotipka’s converted 4:09 was far better than any race he ran as a junior; his effort here and at Sandy on Wednesday show that he is clearly capable of being a huge factor for the Rams over the Lane CC layout in Eugene. Wiltshire’s 4:25.9 was a ten second improvement over a similar run just one month ago. Clearly Luke is rounding into the form expected of him earlier this season, and he could be a big difference maker next Saturday in Eugene. Morgan, after going through 800m in 2:16 with the pack, finished in a strong 4:24.3. His goal all season has been to continue Central’s four year hold on the State Individual XC Championship, and he appears to be peaking at just the right time to do so.

After a very easy mile jog – about 10 minutes, during which time there was an almost unanimous cheer as the reports of OSU’s upset over USC was announced (only Southern California transplant Marx appeared unhappy) – a few also ran a fast 800m. Turina looked strong in 2:06.3. That’s 4:12/2:06 with ten minutes recovery… Of course, Morgan was not to be outdone and rolled to a 1:59.9. Not a bad effort.

Stay tuned for a State Meet Preview; the short version is that the Rams are primed to defend last year’s championship, and the boys are excited and ready for the challenge. Racing begins at 10am with our group toeing the line at 3:30 for the last race of the day. Hope to see you there.

RESULTS of the 1600m TIME TRIAL
(1500m conversion in parentheses)

4:24.3 (4:06.2) – taylor morgan
4:25.9 (4:07.7) – luke wiltshire
4:28.2 (4:09.3) – sam wotipka
4:31.5 (4:12.9) – samot turina
4:31.9 (4:13.3) – david beltramo
4:33.6 (4:14.9) – zach marx
4:40.7 (4:21.5) – david laney
4:41.4 (4:22.1) – joel turkheimer
4:42.4 (4:23.1) – austin jones
4:49.9 (4:30.1) – peter slauson
5:07.3 (4:46.3) – curran carlile
5:08.1 (4:47.0) – conor campbell
5:19.3 (4:57.4) – matt holmes
5:29.4 (5:06.8) – gabe lathrop
5:49.2 (5:25.3) – lucas weisensee
6:07.0 (5:41.9) – tim bauman