Cross country runners face tough competition
October 8, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
Alex Rudd was able to stay with Jillian Altizer for one-fifth of the race.
Mount Si’s Alex Rudd heads toward the finish line during her top-five performance at a meet at Beaver Lake State Park in Sammamish Oct. 1.
That by itself was good enough for a top-five finish.
Rudd started out strong, leading a pack of cross country runners at a meet at Beaver Lake State Park last week. Altizer, who placed 12th for Newport as a sophomore at last year’s 3A state meet, easily pulled away from the pack later on to win a meet amongst Issaquah, Eastlake, Mount Si and fellow Newport runners.
Even though Rudd wasn’t happy with her time, she still managed a top-five finish with a 20:57.
“I knew the Newport girls were good and it would be really good competition. I just wished I would’ve finished a little stronger down the stretch,” the Mount Si junior said. “I stayed with Jillian for about 1,0000 meters. I run with her a lot, and that’s just kind of her style. She runs for a while and then decides she wants to take off. She’s a great runner.”
Rudd had turned in a 20:28 just a week earlier at the Bellevue Invite. Before that, she won a meet at Sammamish between Lake Washington and Sammamish and took 10th at a meet between Eastlake and Newport.
Rudd’s top time in the 5K last season was a 20:17. She placed 21st at the Class 3A state meet, a finish that still annoys her a bit.
“I was so close to the top 20,” she said. “So, I want to get back to state, because I’ve been there the past two years, and I want to finish in the top 20.”
Megan Past had the next-best time for Mount Si with a 21:33. Freshman Kendall Maddux also turned in a solid 22:13, while freshman Katie Rylands had a 22:40.
The boys meet was dominated by Issaquah, which took the top four spots and five of the top six. Jon Wallis won the meet with a 16:50, while teammates Chris Brasino and Isaac Robinson were six and seven seconds behind.
Max McDevitt led all Mount Si runners, clocking a 17:30 for 10th place. He said he’d hoped to finish a little higher, but was impressed with the contingent of Issaquah runners.
“I was thinking I would finish a little better, but I hadn’t run against Issaquah yet and they have an amazing team,” McDevitt said. “My time wasn’t bad, because of the hills out here, but I could’ve been a little faster.”
McDevitt said his goal for the season is to make the state meet. He’ll have to finish in the top 25 at districts to do so.
“I really want to try to get to state this year,” he said.
“I think my chances are pretty decent. Getting to districts should be too bad, but getting through districts could be tough.”
The next Wildcat after McDevitt was Michael Blackmon with a time of 18:17. Teammate Zaz Pearlstein was one second behind him, while Richard Carmichael turned in a 19:20.
The Wildcats were scheduled to run against Bellevue, Woodinville, Liberty and Lake Washington on Wednesday.
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