Glorious day for a run in the park
Published 7:00 am Thursday, September 30, 2004
Build up a big enough lead, and you can survive anything. Even misdirection.
So it went for Hillary Pritchett, who survived a mixup on a far leg of the cross country course at Battle Point Park Thursday, and still ran off with the race at the finish.
Pritchett recorded a time of 20:10 for the three-mile trek, a result skewed by some unfortunate backtracking at the duck pond.
“I got lost a few times, or I would have had a faster time,” the Bainbridge High School sophomore said. “The whole time, I was wondering if I was going the right way.”
Teammate Erika Bergman crossed the line in second place with a time of 20:27, and Geneva Pritchett finished just two seconds later, pacing the Spartans to a first place finish in the four-way meet with 20 points in low-team-wins scoring. Holy Names finished second with 53 points, followed by Bishop Blanchet (65) and Seattle Prep (129).
Also finishing in the top 10 in individual times were Spartans Caroline Johnson (21:30, good for sixth place), Hazel Scott (22:07, eighth) and Sophie Kauffman (22:11, ninth).
The meet took place on a most glorious autumn afternoon, and a north wind pushed the runners along for the final 200 yards of the homestretch. The only possible complaint, boys coach Richard Christopher noted, was that the park leaves hadn’t quite turned.
To add a bit of topographic variety to the long stretches around the park perimeter, the Battle Point course includes several passes over a knoll at the park’s north end, plus several loops around the pond.
While Bainbridge harriers ran the route three times leading up to the meet, a course minder inadvertently steered the front pack the wrong way during the girls event, causing some frustration for runners that found expression through several parents and coaches at the finish line.
The boys field had no such problems. Led by Mark Friedrich, Blanchet runners dominated the field and finished leagues to the good with 23 points.
O’Dea finished second at 52 , followed by Bainbridge (85) and Prep (111).
Max Suffis was the top Bainbridge finisher with a time of 16:54, good for 11th place. Bevan Taylor finished just one second later to claim 12th, followed by Colin O’Keefe (17:05, 14th) and Trubee Davison (17:11, 18th).
O’Keefe’s run was noteworthy, as he turned on the jets over the final 50 yards of ground and passed a competitor at the finish line to move up a spot in the standings.
Meanwhile, sophomore Taylor was pleased with his performance, after netting some pre-race butterflies.
“After the first mile, I was ahead of the guys I usually run with,” he said.
The meet was Bainbridge’s sole home event this season. They hit the trail again today at Lake Sammamish State Park, then run next Wednesday in a six-way Metro League meet at Lower Woodland.
