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Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014 - Mason County Journal - Page B-7
By EMILY HANSON
emi/y@masoncoun com
Both the Shelton boys and
girls cross-country teams per-
formed well enough at last
week's 3A Narrows League
Championship to advance to
the Westside Classic -- the
3A West Central District III
Championship.
"Our presence at the West-
side Classic for the third
straight year is a result of the
consistent hard work that this
group of kids is happy to do,"
head coach John Johnson said.
On Oct. 22, the girls team
earned 78 points at the league
championship at Fort Steila-
coom State Park, enough to
finish third among six league
teams.
The boys team took sixth
place among eight teams with
137 points.
"I was thrilled with the rac-
ing from both varsity squads,"
Johnson said. "It was, by far,
the best effort of the season.
It was a very wet day and
there were some puddles on
the course. A few sharp cor-
ners were dicey with the mud,
but we didn't have anybody go
down during the races. The
athletes really showed some
courage out there."
He said the athletes dug a
little deeper into their strength
and were rewarded.
Among the racer, senior
Darius Burke was the fastest,
finishing the 5,000-meter race
in 17 minutes, 12.49 seconds
for ninth place in the boys di-
vision.
Among the girls, sophomore
Anika Parker earned the high-
est placing, finishing eighth
with a time of 20:53.16.
"Being in attack mode when
you are really hurting is a very
difficult thing to do," Johnson
said. "We are getting much
better at staying focused for
the entire 17 to 20 minutes of
discomfort and suffering that
is cross-country racing."
Johnson said the district
tournament will be a fun day.
"More than likely, course
conditions will be less than
ideal, so some technical skill
will be needed to negotiate the
mud and steep hills," he said.
"We will be resting more this
week, just trying to lose the fa-
tigue that we carry with us for
much of the season, so that will
help us feel good about getting
out well in a fast start."
He added that some break-
through performances from this
group of athletes are possible.
NMHS
team
By EMILY HANSON
emi /@masoncounty com
It's been at least 10
years since North Mason
sent a girls cross-country
team to the Westside
Classic.
Come Saturday, that
will change.
On Oct. 23, the girls
team took sixth among
eight teams at the 2A
Olympic League Cham-
pionship at The Ce-
dars at Dungeness Golf
Course in Sequim with
134 points, enough to
advance to the classic,
which is the 2A West
Central District III
Championship.
"It's been a great sea-
son for our girls," head
coach Bill McCarty said.
"They ran well with our
top four girls all in the
top 25. All but one of
them had a personal re-
cord and they're all super
excited."
The Westside Classic
will be at American Lake
Golf Course in American
Lake.
As she has all season,
senior Caitlyn Mead led
the team, taking 12th
place in 21 minutes,
24.92 seconds. Just be-
hind her was her sister,
junior Joanna Mead, in
13th place in 21:27.42.
The boys team took
eighth place among nine
teams with 178 points.
"On the boys side, we
just couldn't get every-
one healthy and despite
personal records for
three of the runners, we
fell short on advancing to
districts," McCarty said.
Junior Jeremiah Lam-
bert led the boys with
a 15th-place fmish in
17:28.59, fast enough to
advance to districts.
McCarty said he en-
visions the Mead sisters
and Lambert competing
well enough at districts
to continue on to the 2A
IAA State Cross-coun-
try Championship the
following week.
"I would love to see the
whole girls team go on
and you never know what
is going to happen, but
those three have the best
chances," McCarty sa~d.
Mary M. Knight
senior Miranda
Sowle sends
the ball back
toward the
net Oct. 21
during the Lady
Owls' home
match against
Wishkah.
Journal photo
by Emily Hanson
By EMILY HANSON
emity@masoncounty com
Miranda Sowle put on a clinic last week.
The Mary M. Knight senior connected
on 30-of-33 serves Oct. 21 during the Lady
Owls' home match against Wishkah. The
Lady Owls won 25-5, 25-4, 25-13.
"Miranda had a beautiful night," head
coach Kitty Brehmeyer said.
Sowle made 15 serves in a row in game
1. Her 16th attempt hit the net.
In game 2, Sowle made 14 serves in a
row. Wishkah earned a point on a Lady
Owl error on the 15th attempt.
In game 3, Sowle lost her stride, hitting
the net on her second serve attempt.
Sowle had four aces and also handed out
seven assists.
"I'm very excited about how I played,"
Sowle said. She added that she hasn't had
that many serves in a row since junior high,
when she served all 25 points in one game.
"Not only did Miranda get the four aces,
but her team rallied behind her quite well,"
Brehmeyer said. The girls looked real good."
Brehmeyer said she has seen Sowle's
serving percentage that high before, but
not her number of serves in a row.
The victory fell right in the middle of
a two-week, five-match stretch, during
which Mary M. Knight went 2-3.
On Oct. 14, Lake Quinault defeated the
Lady Owls 25-19, 25-17, 25-19.
Mary M. Knight then beat Oakville 25-
9, 25-23, 25-9 on Oct. 15.
Following the victory against Wishkah,
Centralia defeated the Lady Owls 25-18,
25-16, 25-16.
"It was a rough night," Brehmeyer said
about the Centralia game. "No matter
how hard the girls tried, they continued to
make individual errors that led to frustra-
tion on the floor."
Senior Jessica Jimenez led the team,
serving 13-of-13 with four digs, while
Sowle served 13-of-15 with two aces, three
kills and five assists.
Finally, on Oct. 23, Naselle defeated
Mary M. Knight 25-23, 25-17, 25-16.
"The entire team stepped it up," Breh-
meyer said. "All girls were mentally ready
to play and it showed in their hustle. They
also worked hard and supported each other
throughout the match."
Sowle served 16-of-18 with three aces,
four kills, five assists and six digs, while
senior Ashlin Fries served 8-of-9 with sev-
en digs.
"Naselle is a hard-hitting team, but we
had great digs and good ball control," Breh-
meyer said. "We never let up our intensity.
Even though we lost the match, the girls
played well and with heart."
The Lady Owls (8-6) were scheduled to
play their final regular season match last
night at Pope John Paul II High School in
Lacey.
The 1B Southwest District IV tourna-
ment is scheduled to begin Tuesday, but
Mary M. Knight's first match has not yet
been scheduled.
By EMILY HANSON
emi/y@masoncounty com
Seven of the eight Shelton
girls swimmers at last week's
3A Narrows League champi-
onship have advanced to the
3A West Central District III
Championship.
"The girls were pleased with
most of their swims, from what
I saw," co-head coach Chad
Youngquist said. "We have
not yet reached our potential,
though, and I see us dropping
much more time at districts."
Individually, three swim-
mers advanced from the league
championship Oct. 23 and Fri-
day at Mount Tahoma to dis-
tricts.
Senior Hannah Womer took
third in the 50-yard freestyle
with a time of 26.75 seconds.
Womer also finished the 100-
yard breaststroke in second
place with a time of 1:15.06.
"Hannah Womer was
our best performer overall,"
Youngquist said. "She dropped
significant time and is looking
better going into districts."
Junior Bobbi Hanner fin-
ished the 50-yard freestyle in
ninth place in 28.23.
Junior Megan Jacobsen also
advanced individually. She fin-
ished the 100-yard freestyle in
fifth place in 1:00.56.
The three girls will join Han-
nah Oliver, Becky Gonella, Na-
tasha Howard and Ivie Redman
for the relay events at districts.
"We need to tighten up our
turns and practice our high-
speed technique," Youngquist
said.
To accomplish those goals,
he said the team will swim with
bungie cords for speed work
and watch videos of the relays
to help work on flip turns.
The district championships
start Nov. 7 and continue Nov.
8 at Hazen High School in
Renton.
