Photo by Terry Mills
Two Tonasket cross country runners get close to the finish line at Saturday’s meet. The Tonasket boys’ team came in third overall. Photo of Spencer Podkranic, and Tyler Monroe for Tonasket.
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Photo by Terry Mills
Two Tonasket cross country runners get close to the finish line at Saturday’s meet. The Tonasket boys’ team came in third overall. Photo of Spencer Podkranic, and Tyler Monroe for Tonasket.
TONASKET-Uphill, downhill, over grass, and over rocks, the cross country team runs over it all.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the cross country team had its first meet at Tonasket High School against Chelan, Cascade, Lake Roosevelt, Omak and Oroville.
The girls ran first, with 37 total runners. Tonasket senior Veronica Puente finished the 2.8 mile race in fifth place with a time of 20:27.
“Veronica was good, she’s a lot stronger this year,” Bob Thornton, head coach, said. “She ran really well and this was the best race she’s run so far.”
Also from Tonasket, sophomore Adenna Cleman finished 15 with a time of 22:40 and junior Adrianna Sharp finished 27 with a time of 25:43. Thornton said that Sharp had run cross country in middle school and as a freshman, but didn’t last year and that Cleman also ran in middle school in Oroville but that this was her first year of high school.
Kim Barry of Lake Roosevelt finished the race in first with a time of 18:46 and the girls’ team from Chelan won first place overall.
After the girls finished the course, 46 boys ran with Chase Anderson of Chelan finishing at 15:15, a new course record by 25 seconds. Tonasket sophomore Peter Williams finished in seventh place at 17:33. Thornton said that this was Williams’ first cross country meet.
“He was good, I was really please with how he ran,” Thornton said. “He’s been running will in practice and it was nice to see him run so well in the meet, too.”
The Chelan boys’ team came in first place overall and the Tonasket boys’ team came in third place overall. Thornton said that he was very pleased with the boys’ team doing so well together.
“They ran really well as a team. We had six boys in before any other team had five,” Thornton said. “It was a good pack, we just need to work on them coming in a few places sooner.”
Thornton added that the team had been working on running together and helping each other out during practice.
“I think everyone from the team last year that ran improved their times by about two minutes,” he stated.
The cross country team next runs in Moses Lake on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. and Thornton said he was looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be an interesting meet because it’s at Moses Lake and there’ll be a few 4A and 3A teams,” Thornton said. “I think we’ll do well and finish in the middle of the pack.”
