The Rainier High School girls and boys cross country teams’ strength and conditioning were tested during the 2B/1B Rainier Invitational at Rainier Elementary School on Thursday, Oct. 10.
Although most of the athletes had run at RES at the Central 2B League kickoff on Sept. 19, the 5,000-meter course was extended “to be able to fit in the parameters that we have,” head coach Rob Henry said. As a result, the student athletes had to push through many more hills and terrains than normal.
Rainier’s girls triumphed with a first-place team finish despite the difficulties that the course presented, as six of the top 10 varsity finishers were Mountaineers. Senior Madison Ingram took first place for the fourth time this season with a time of 20 minutes and 10 seconds. Freshman Komaire Robles finished within two seconds of the reigning league and district champion, taking second at 20:12.
Junior Jazzlyn Shumate earned third at 20:24, freshman Alexis Myers set a personal best with her sixth-place finish of 21:40, and sophomores Rayanna Wisner (season best of 22:09) and Kinsley Barlow (22:28) finished ninth and 10th, respectively.
It wasn’t as easy as the Mountaineers made it look, however. Several players struggled for air upon crossing the finish line.
“It’s pretty hard. The hills really get to you, and there’s a lot of unstableness in the hills so it makes it a little harder,” Myers said. “Otherwise, it’s mostly just mental, and you just have to push yourself through it. But it’s probably the hardest course we’ve run.”
While Henry and the Rainier coaching staff prepare their athletes by running both hills and flat surfaces, their mentality and their conditioning, enforced by senior leadership, sets them apart from the other schools in competition. Ingram, James Meldrum and Emma Mathson were three seniors Henry highlighted as instilling a mental toughness.
“They’re starting to believe in themselves. They’re getting a lot tougher. They’re all battling injuries, but they’re not letting it get to them,” Henry said. “They’re in really good shape right now. They’re in the best shape I’ve seen.”
Henry was impressed with Robles and her ability to keep pace with Ingram, who finished over 20 seconds faster than the second-place finisher in both of her previous 5K victories this season.
“Komaire’s a really competitive kid. She’s starting to believe that she’s as good as she can be, and there’s still more in the tank,” Henry said. “Maddie will talk to them and help them out and build them up. Nobody brings anybody down.”
On the boys side, junior Zach Hamilton enjoyed another strong outing with a fifth-place finish at 17:28. Meldrum, junior Ean Viik, senior Zander Peck and sophomore Owen Timbers all placed in the top 40 and crossed the finish line in under 21 minutes. Viik set a PR at 19:29, and Peck earned his best time of the season at 20:04.
“The boys just keep improving, which is great. We’ve got some kids that came out of nowhere like Caleb Stover, who didn’t run today because his leg was hurting him a little bit, had a two-minute PR last week and he backed it up on Saturday,” Henry said. “Ean Viik was battling injuries but he’s getting faster. All the boys are getting faster.”
As for other area athletes, Toledo’s Treyton Marty breezed through the course with a first-place finish at 16:12, and Rochester’s Gunnar Morgan took second at 16:40. Toledo freshman Conner Hill was the lone ninth grader to finish in the top 20 at 17:23, his best time of his career by 26 seconds. Morton-White Pass, which took second place behind East Jefferson, boasted two top 10 finishers in Vanson Armstrong in seventh and Hunter Brackett in eighth. For the girls, Tenino senior Brynn Williams earned seventh while fellow Beaver Haley Huber took eighth.
The Mountaineers have one more league meet at Castle Rock on Wednesday, Oct. 16 before the 2B League Championships on Oct. 24 at Onalaska Middle School.
