After a major heat wave and two different smoke outs resulting in multiple interruptions in our training, we were finally able to get a race in … even if it was 4 weeks delayed 🙂
On Saturday the 26th, we ran 6 separate 3K heats in accordance with ongoing health guidelines. Forty-eight Whitney runners toed the line and completed the 3-loop 1K route at SV Park. A 3000m run is roughly 200 meters shy of two miles, which is the distance of our time trial we ran in early August. Although the distances between the two events are different, we can fairly easily convert the times to determine improvement (40 to 60 sec conversion, depending on pace). We weren’t too optimistic that we’d see a lot of improvement, since we’ve had to cancel so many workouts in recent weeks. But we were pleasantly surprised. More than two-thirds of our runners ran a faster converted time than the time trial 6 weeks ago! This is a testament to the commitment and dedication of our athletes, who kept showing up as soon as there was a sliver of clean air.
The first heat of the morning was a small group of frosh soph girls. Each of these young ladies has shown tremendous progress. Freshman Mikaela Pock continues to be one of our fastest rising performers, and was first across the finish line in 14:08, indicating a sub-7:30 per mile pace. Sophomore Emma Carlson was next, also under 8-min pace. The next 3 runners, all freshmen, ran the 2-mile time trial in early August as well, so we were able to do an analysis of improvement. Compared to the time trial, Katie Hart’s 3K was approximately a half minute per mile faster pace. Taylor Bettencourt had the second best improvement of any girl on the team, running about 40 seconds faster per mile. And Zoe Cloud showed the biggest improvement, hitting nearly a full minute per mile faster pace. All of these girls are consistently in attendance at practice, and the results are a testament to that.
Five minutes after the first heat, we sent the second heat, which was a larger group. All 11 girls broke 15 minutes. Sophomore Maddie Kelly and juniors Emilyn Kong and Kylee Wibbeler each ran under 8 minutes per mile, and ran an improved pace over the August time trial. Sophomore Ashanti Elie, junior Hailey Kelly, and senior Olivia Sauer all broke 14:30 for a roughly 7:30 mile pace. Junior Ashlyn Fujioka broke 14 minutes, something only 10 other girls did on this 3K. Among them were a couple of fast-rising freshmen… Grace Scott and Sophie Bowen, who came in together under 13:30. Grace had the 6th best improvement over the time trial, and Sophie showed the 3rd best improvement. Nearly breaking 13 minutes were the top two finishers in this heat, sophomores Tyler Williams and Mariana Blanding, 13:04 and 13:01, both showing major improvement in their pace from the month prior. As with the first heat, the girls in this group are all very committed and regulars at practice.
Seven girls made up the third heat. Seniors Kirsten Ransford and Haley Bedrin held about a 7:30 pace, with Haley getting in under the 14-min barrier. Fellow senior Jessica Becker hit 13:30, which is a mile pace in the low 7’s. Junior Natalie Eppler was one of only 4 girls to break the 13-min barrier, crossing the line in 12:58. Quietly rising freshman Ava Kopec has emerged to be a consistent top 5 runner overall, not just in races but during pace workouts. She hit 12:40, which is an impressive 6:45 mile pace. Sophomore Katie Kopec followed up her sub-12-min performance at the time trial to cross the 3K in 11:38. And our top female runner on the day was once again freshman sensation Angeline Gutierrez, finishing with an impressive time of 11:18.
The next set of 3 heats were the guys, starting off with 9 frosh-soph runners. Freshman Akanis Surapak ran the 3K more than 3 minutes faster than the 2-mile time trial. The conversion at his pace is about a minute, which still leaves him well over two minutes improvement–a minute per mile faster. Not only was Akanis the most improved boy, he was the most improved of all Whitney runners on the entire team! Newcomer sophomore Connor Tuffanelli ran approximately 8 minute pace, not bad for just getting started as the newest member of our team. Fellow sophomore Tyler Herceg hit a 7:20 mile pace, and had the 6th largest improvement of all the guys. Freshman runners Peyton Boyd and Charlie Peek both broke 13:30; Peyton showed the 4th biggest improvement, and Charlie was 2nd behind Akanis in terms of margin of improvement. Sophomore Nick Nottoli and freshman Landon Wibbeler each ran about 13 flat, each with an improved pace over the time trial. Sophomore Corbin Peek and freshman Noah Reed were our top two finishers in this heat, and it came down to an exciting kick to settle the score. Corbin clocked 12:38 putting him as 7th most improved, and Noah crossed the line one second behind and was the 3rd most improved boy on the day. Every runner in this heat had an improved pace over the time trial. Great progress!
Our second heat of boys featured only five runners, with one of them being sophomore Cole Jamieson who selflessly agreed to not go all out, but rather pace his fellow teammates. The goal was to hit 6-minute pace and see if any of the boys in this heat could manage that pace. Junior Hunter Schwab was stride for stride with Cole and actually negative splitted, closing at a faster pace and broke 11 minutes. Great race Hunter! Although three freshmen in the group–David Hurren, Anthony Berg, Noah Lopez–were not able to keep up the 6-flat pace, they each ran about eleven and a half minutes, which was a noticeable pace improvement compared to the time trial.
The final heat of the day was our largest, with 12 boys. Everyone in this heat broke 11 minutes over the 3K course. The race featured an exciting pack, with 7 of these young men crossing the line within 17 seconds of each other. Finishing in the 10:50’s were sophomores Callum Turner, Jaden Rapp, and Brandon Olah as well as two freshmen, Josh Tajiri and Perry Hutchinson. These 5 young men all finished in a span of 8 seconds, with Perry and Brandon showing the largest improvement over their August time trial performance. About 70 meters ahead of that pack was junior Ryan Hart, our 5th overall finisher, racing very well as he continues to come back from a leg injury. And ahead of everyone was our usual pack of 4, Team JBAR (Jason Finta, Byron Chadwick, Aiden Ransford, Riley Carroll, all seniors). These guys train so well together, and race together to push each other to be their individual and collective best–exactly what Whitney Distance stands for. They all broke 10 minutes, with Jason taking the lead and finishing first. All four runners finished within 8 seconds of each other.
It is impressive to say the least, how so many of the student athletes in this distance program just keep showing up, keep running and training, despite shutdowns, heatwaves, air quality practice cancellations, etc. Distance running is our vehicle, but the journey for these young men and women involves all the life lessons of character, persistence, resilience, and so many other valuable attributes to develop and embody. Their success on the race course will be noticeable, but their success in life will be undeniable.