WAITSBURG - WP's middle school runners saw successes and personal record races on Oct. 12 at a meet at Pioneer Middle School in Walla Walla.

WP middle school runner Emily Adams placed first in the girls seventh grade 2-mile race with a time of 12:32.

On Wednesday, she shaved nearly two minutes off of her 2-mile time from the previous meet.

Coach Joanna Lanning said Adams is now ranked second in state for seventh grade.

WP's middle school boys also made strides on Wednesday. Andre Potts placed 20th with a time of 15:35 in the boys seventh grade 2-mile race. Trey Potts placed 8th with a time of 12:42 in the eighth grade boys 2-mile race.

"It went really well," Lanning said of last Wednesday's meet.

I couple of Oregon middle school teams participated at the meet. Lanning said these athletes were tough competition for WP because some of them train at higher elevations.

Despite the tough competition, WP runners still kicked hard to reduce their times from previous meets. In addition to Adams' quick time, Trey Potts ran a personal record time for the distance despite a heel injury, Lanning said. His brother Andre also ran a personal best time.

"Everybody had a really good meet," Lanning said. "The weather was perfect."

Lanning said her athletes are posting better times in their races because they are farther into the season and have been training well.

"As the season progresses, they get in better shape," she said .

Also, unlike some middle school teams, Lanning's middle school athletes train right beside her high school athletes.

"There's definitely an advantage there," she said.

As the season comes to an end, she's already thinking about next year. Lanning said she hopes to inspire her middle school athletes to maintain a more disciplined running structure so the team can be even stronger next year. She said she is pleased Adams will be running track in the spring to maintain her running abilities.

"She should have an incredible 8th grade (year)," Lanning predicts.

There is one regular season meet left for the WP middle school team on Oct. 21 in Pendleton.