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The 30th annual Sunfair Invitational Cross Country Meet has another
outstanding field of teams and individuals. By Saturday morning Franklin
Park will be transformed into a showcase for the sport of cross country.
This meet has had many runners who went on to excellent success in college
and international competitions.
GIRLS - the Snohomish girls are on a roll, having done well in every
invite
this season. They have it all, strength in the front and a solid pack.
They are a strong favorite to take the girls team awards. This meet runs
seven flights and scores all the flights, which suits the Snohomish team.
Other top rank 4A teams will be Kamiakin, Mt. Spokane, University-Spokane,
Thomas Jefferson, host Eisenhower, and Lewis & Clark.
The 3A teams to watch should include Bellevue, Newport-Bellevue, Mercer
Island, Skyline, and West Valley-Yakima. The meet also has a strong group
of 2A teams that include South Whidbey, East Valley-Yakima, Riverside,
Chelan, and Ephrata.
Top individual runners include Megan O'Reilly of Mt. Spokane(last year's
champ), Amie Danke of University/Spokane, Amanda Miller-Eastmont, Becca
Noble-Rogers/Spokane(state 400 meter champ), Isley Gonzalez-Sunnyside,
Lucy
Miller-Snohomish, Stephanie Lenihan-A.C. Davis/Yakima, and Bevin Peters-Holy
Names/Seattle. Plus, there are always some super Canadian runners!
BOYS - Host Eisenhower is the favorite but there will be plenty of teams
to
challenge them for the top spot. The Ike boys, last Saturday on a fast
5000
course, ran 15:00 / 15:16 / 15:46 / 15:57/ 15:58. That was without the
number three runner who was resting a tender foot. He is healthy and
running again. Teams planning to contest the top place include Mt.
Spokane(who raced at Stanford last weekend), Snohomish, Kamiak, and
Jackson/Everett. The 3A field is strong with state-top ranked West
Valley-Yakima, Skyline, and Mercer Island. Like the field in the girls
meet, the 2A group is strong, with Chelan, South Whidbey, Riverside, East
Valley-Yakima, and Colville.
Top individual runners include Travis Hartanov of Mt. Spokane, Kelly
Spady-Kamiak, Ryan Mulvihill-University, Robby Barany-Eisenhower, Jeff
Helmer-Jackson, and Danny Weiser-Snohomish. There will certainly be others
who will have exceptional races and be on the awards stand.
Meet team scoring records are very tough. The Mead-Spokane boys have
scored
7 points; this can never be beaten. The Carroll girls from Yakima scored
12
points - the Snohomish girls have a definite shot at this score.
Individual course times are held by two outstanding runners The boys
record
is held by Matt Davis of Mead, who ran 14:48, in 1993. Matt went on to
a
fine career at the University of Oregon. Only five runners have broken
15:00 minutes on the hilly three mile course. The girls record is 17.24,
set by Sara Schwald of Rogers/Spokane, in 1990. Sara is still competing
at
the international level for the United States. To give you a feel for
this
record, Zoe Nelson of Flathead ran 18.10 two years ago.
Next year this meet could be even stronger as teams throughout the United
States take a look at the results and decide to challenge the Northwest
and
Canadian runners.
Sunfair Invitational
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