Runners break into competitive season

The Outlaws cross country teams broke into the competitive season with a small group of runners. They still made a big impression with a 1-2 finish by Parker Bennett and Taylor Steele at the Marist Invitational at Pre's Trail in Eugene Saturday, September 12.

After the team's first meet of the season was cancelled, coach Charlie Kanzig felt that some of the more experienced runners on the team needed a race to be able to gauge their readiness for the season. Marist graciously added the Outlaws' entrants, and Bennett and Taylor made the best of it in a field that included 11 complete teams, include 6A Gresham and 5A Corvallis and Mountain View.

It only took about two minutes of the race to go by before Taylor Steele nudged Bennett to indicate the pace was too slow and the two separated themselves from the rest of the field. Bennett ended up with the third-fastest 5,000-meter time in Outlaws history en route to his first win as a varsity cross country runner, clocking a blazing 16:10.

Steele also improved on his best time by nearly 46 seconds over last year with a time of 16:48. He finished 38 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.

"I told the boys I couldn't predict the quality of the field in the very first meet of the season and that I thought they would end up at the front, but I never imagined that they would come through with such an emphatic, dominating performance," said Kanzig.

Bennett obviously felt pleased with the outcome.

"When Taylor said we should pick it up we were able to move together through the entire first half of the race," he said. "It was mighty hot out there, so I didn't expect the time to be so fast."

The two were joined by some newcomers to the varsity cross country level who also wanted to get a race under their belts as well, including Easton Curtis (19:50), Mason Calmettes (20:11), Nick Luz (21:33) and Zander Albertson (21:56).

The team finished fifth among 11 complete teams. The girls' team showed some heart in finishing eighth among the ten complete teams as five girls volunteered to make the last-minute trip.

"We didn't prepare for this race like we normally would, since it was decided late in the week to take part, so the girls really approached it as a good solid workout, which it was," said Kanzig.

Emi Conrads ran conservatively from the start and moved up during the race to finish fourteenth in 21:45 to lead the squad. Hayley Palmer and freshman Katie Stewart also ran even pace and finished near one another in 23:33 and 23:36 respectively. Cindy Steele (25:37) and Jessica Waldren (28:16) rounded out the scoring for the Outlaws.

The Outlaws boys return three members of last year's third-place state team, so there is a bit of rebuilding to be done. The girls return about half of last year's team, which was ranked in the top two most of the season before falling just short of a trip to the state meet.

As for the outlook for the season, Kanzig feels very positive: "We will all be racing this Saturday at Molalla, which will give me a chance to really see how our training is going and who has the desire to compete," he said. "We have a great group of kids who are already giving me reason to smile every day."

The Molalla meet includes twelve 4A teams, including ten that sent squads to the 4A state championships last year, so Kanzig looks forward to his teams racing against some of the best.

"It's always good to go against strong competitors to bring out the best in yourself," he said.