Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
WP cross country athletes run at state in Pasco on Saturday. The boys' team took 7th. Many runners posted personal records including WP's only female runner, Isabel Benito.
The WP boys' team was awarded 2010 WIAA State Academic Champions for 2B schools in Pasco on Saturday. The Scholastic Awards Program recognizes the team with the highest grade point average among all Washington high schools in their enrollment classification.
PASCO - WP cross country runners went to state this week, setting high scores among over a dozen other schools from all over Washington competing at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday. "It was a fantastic day and a terrific way to end our season," said coach Joanna Lanning. "Every single WP athlete put forth their best effort to give our boys' team its best finish yet." The boys' team placed 7th in the state this year, two places better than last year, Lanning said. "And two places up from what the cross country polls said we would finish." Sophomore Seth Deal led the team by placing fourth in the state in the men's varsity 5,000 meter race, with a time of 16: 46.7. Although runners from Lacey, St. George and Republic took the top three spots, Deal beat his own 2009 record for the same race by more than a minute. As a freshman, Deal finished the race in 18:04.
"According to former Waitsburg X-C coach Denise Winnett, this is the highest finish for a cross country athlete in the school's history," Lanning said. Other WP varsity runners were senior Nick Carpenter, who placed 31st out of 129 competitors with 17:53.2, senior
Matthew Montgomery, 82nd place, with 19:19.9, freshman E.J. Meserve, 95th place, with 19:41.3, freshman Erik Sandoval, 101st place with 19:57.9, and freshman Ben Moser, 121st place, with 21:09.4. Senior Isabel Benito, the only young woman from WP to run at state, placed 32nd out of 69 runners with a time of 22:08.4. "The upperclassmen: Deal, Carpenter, Montgomery and Benito, who all had previous appearances at state, posted personal records on Saturday," Lanning said. "was very proud of them and our three freshmen, who ran their hearts out!"
The WP boys team placed 7th out of 16 teams. The girls did not race a team.
This was the third consecutive year the Cardinals have gone to state for cross country, and the fourth time in seven years, Lanning said.
"I feel our success was due in part to the tremendous support we received from the Waitsburg and Prescott staff and the community who turned out in droves to cheer on the kids," she said. "The team and I appreciated it very, very much. Watch out for us next year!"
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