Taylor leads Spart harriers

Heading into their only home meet of the year, the Bainbridge cross country teams continued their steady ways at the most recent Metro League meet and the Mt. Baker Invite.

Against O’Dea, Bevan Taylor finished first overall with a time of 17:58. The Spartans took three of the top five places as Max Welch was third with a time of 18:20 while Taylor Lea was fifth with a time of 18:40.

Greg Nance and Matt Tetlow rounded out the top five finishers on the team, while Ian Shiach, Willie Wenzlau and Theo Hunt all had great times.

As a team, the Spartans finished first with 25 points.

On the girls side, Emily Farrar was first overall with a time of 20:36, while Callie McKenzie was second with a time of 20:39.

Annie Taylor, Mattie Molskness and Emilie VanVleet rounded out the top five finishers on the team.

As a team, Bainbridge finished second to Holy Names with 34 points.

The cross country teams did well Saturday at the Mt. Baker Invite at Silver Lake State Park in Deming. Against 39 teams from five different classifications, the Spartans held their own in a tough field.

Farrar was 34th with a time of 19:36, while McKenzie was 40th with a time of 19:56.

Taylor placed 76th with a time of 20:46, while Molskness, VanVleet, Molly O’Keefe and Amy Hamilton all placed in the top 200.

On the boys side, Taylor was 14th with a time of 15:58. Welch was 41st with a time of 16:41, while Shiach, Lea, Wenzlau and Nance all placed in the top 150.

As a team, the boys finished in ninth place. while the girls placed 16th.

Bainbridge hosts their only home meet of the season today when Bishop Blanchet and Lakeside come over to Battle Point Park. The boys race starts at 3:40 p.m while the girls race at 4:10 p.m. Volunteers are needed to assist with the meet; call assistant coach Anne Howard Lindquist at 780-6923.

The team is also helping a Lakeside runner collect used-up running shoes for a summer project so she can send the shoes to children in Morocco.

To donate, take your shoes to today’s meet or bring them to the main office at BHS before Oct. 19.

Boys golfers edge O’Dea

While the rivalry between the Bainbridge and O’Dea boys golf teams isn’t as intense as the one between the football teams, both teams still want to top each other no matter what.

The Spartans did just that on Monday, defeating the Fighting Irish 106-105 to keep their home winning streak intact.

It’s the first time two teams have scored over 100 Stableford points in a home meet.

Jamie Neill estimates its been six years since the team last lost a match at Wing Point.

“Maintaining the streak was one of my goals coming into the year,” Neill said. “I didn’t want to be the captain that lost it, ‘cause I would have heard about it from all the other guys.”

Neill shot a even-par 35 on the front nine, but Kyle Hurt shot a one-under 34 to tie with O’Dea’s Cory Mehl for the medalist spot.

Sean Leonard shot a 35, but it was Jack Seidl’s 38 that won it for the Spartans.

Fighting Irish golfers Tyler Kato and Kevin Trudell each shot a 36, while Rett Ramey had a 39.

“They’re very tough here (at Wing Point),” head coach Bob Dwyer said. “But we haven’t done it over in Seattle yet. We’ve played Jefferson twice and both times, I think we threw a lot of shots away that could have helped.”

Neill said they’ll be ready to go once the Metro League tournament rolls around, especially since O’Dea took the league title away from Bainbridge last season by one stroke.

“They upset us by one last year, so there’s no reason we can’t do the same to them this year,” he said. “We’re gonna try at least.”

Lakeside scored 92 points while Seattle Prep scored 82 points.

The Spartans also defeated the Bishop Blanchet Braves 108-91 last Monday.

Neill had a 34 to win the medal, while Hurt and Seidl each shot 35. Leonard shot a 38.

Bainbridge lost by one point to Seattle Prep on the road last Wednesday at Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle.

Hurt and Kyle Fitzsimmons from Prep were the co-medalist as both shot a even par 36. Kyle Schneider shot a 39.