No place like home for Spartan runners

The Bainbridge High School cross country team won both the boy’s and the girl’s 5K races at their season’s only home meet last week at sunny Battle Point Park.

October 18, 2016 3:17 pm
Members of the Spartan girls cross country team set the pace at last week’s home meet.
Members of the Spartan girls cross country team set the pace at last week’s home meet.

BAINBRIDGE – The Bainbridge High School cross country team won both the boy’s and the girl’s 5K races at their season’s only home meet last week at sunny Battle Point Park.

The Spartans defeated Metro rival Eastside Catholic and four teams from the West Sound: Central Kitsap (Silverdale), North Kitsap (Poulsbo), North Mason (Belfair) and Port Townsend.

Bainbridge’s Sebastian Belkin (17:07), Carlo Ruggiero (17:12), Jacob Carlson (17:13), Nathan McVay and Cole Brundige took five of the first seven places for a decisive 36-point win for BHS, with Elliott Windrope and Sean Lindsey finishing 10th and 11th.

Sophomore McVay’s 17:25 was an impressive 30 seconds faster than his previous best 5K this season, and more than a minute faster than he ran as a freshman.

The Spartan girl’s team slipped by Central Kitsap 41-42 as senior Jackie McVay (Nathan’s sister) set a course record for a Bainbridge cross country girl (20:26).

Freshman Emma Brundige had a breakout race (20:45) and chopped 45 seconds off her personal record.

The win for the Spartans was secured by the speed of Anna Scott (20:42, third fastest time by a BIXC girl on this course, ever), by the pack running of Audrey Weaver, Naomi von Ruden, and Adalynn Griesser (11th-13th place), and especially by novice Kari Perry, the team’s seventh runner, who finished just ahead of Central Kitsap’s fifth runner.

Further back in the large field — there were roughly 100 Bainbridge runners among more than 250 finishers — more than two dozen BIXC boys and nearly a dozen girls set new personal records on a difficult, twisty, and beautifully scenic course.

Among these were three freshmen — Marc Freeman-Sheehy, Jack Dutt and Miles Vilke — who all beat their previous best times by more than 2 minutes.

In only his second 5K, Joshua Lewis Sandy (19:39) took more than a minute off his time, finishing just ahead of classmate Reuben Allen (19:43, also a PR) for the best freshman time so far this season.

In the girl’s race, junior Spartan captain Lauren Wallach’s 23:04 was nearly a minute faster than her best sophomore time, and 2:40 below her freshman PR.

The Bainbridge harriers traveled to Woodland Park on Oct. 13 for a seven-team Metro meet and will then begin their taper for the 17-team Metro Championship on Oct. 20.