Ryan Prentice at Pasco

Ryan Prentice Mt.Rainier 3A Champ 16:01  

Ryan Prentice ran away with the 3A title at the State Championship meet at Pasco.  He finished with a 4 sec lead over Andrew Kimpel of the #3 nationally ranked North Central.  He finished 17 to 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the top flight.

Last year Ryan finished 3rd in the 3A meet with a 16:09

He was hoping to lock in to a sub 16 minute time this year.  He did post a faster time, although winning is the real thing, he was a bit unhappy that his time improvement was not more dramatic.

Ryan Prentice came to Pasco off of a long recovery.  This summer he experienced something which all runners at times fear.  On a long summer run he ran past a man and his Pit Bull.  As he approached the pair he showed an understandable caution, he slid past them and was quickly reminded that it is not safe to underestimate a dog or the owner’s control over him.

Ryan Prentice was  attacked, bit in the but and thrown to the ground.  He quickly recovered from the puncture wounds to the glutes but he eventually came to realize that the fall caused damage deeper in his hips.  

Early in the season ,when Ryan began to push himself at races, he was reminded with severe and constant hip pain.

It first started to show itself at the FT.Steillaoom invite and then the Mt Baker invite.

The Ft Steillacoom race was on 9/15 even this early Ryan knew he was in for a long recovery.  In spite of the pain he still managed to hold on to second place 15:16, 1/2 second behind Rob Webster of Puyallop.

By My Baker on 9/29 he was in real trouble.  The hip pain was influencing his performance, in a group of athletes he should have easily been able run with, he fell to 12th place nearly 1 minute behind the winner Kyle King of Oak Harbor.

Serious rest, serious cross training, serious physical rehab.  The situation was not going to improve without the right treatment, as the pace got faster and the training harder, the injury was becoming impossible to tolerate or ignore.  Beyond all of that it was preventing Ryan to continue the dedicated and determined work he set his path on since the end of his Sophomore track season.

Coming off a 5 week recovery program Ryan ran a cautious league meet at Everygreen HS 16:19 and a confidence building district meet at American lake, taking second, 2 seconds behind Cowan Julian-Blake of Auburn Riverside, with a 15:39.

Ryan was ready, 5 weeks of off time and he was still ready to go.  Well rested, confident and ready, Ryan Prentice was about to step up and  do what he set out to do 2 years earlier, prove to himself and his competitors that he was the rightful heir to the throne.

He showed up to the State meet without his team, the only other Mt. Ranier athlete to make it thru the league and district meets was Junior, Devon Powell.

Forced in alley 16 at the end of the line may have helped Ryan more than he expected.  The flank position forced him to traverse the steepest part of the starting hill, he may have tackled this usually high speed start with a bit of caution because of this.  He found himself in 15th place by the first mile in a close pack of all the athletes he had been running with for the past 2 years.  This group inlluded the best of the best in the 3A division, all of the top dozen runners have at one time or another, beat each other, lost to each other, participated in the exclusive school of top flight runners.  Any one of these guys was eager, ready and able to win this race.

In spite of this, Ryan felt a distinct caution in the group which, by 1.5 miles was still a close grouping of the same runners.  Ryan stepped up, pushed a fast 30 yards and settled into the lead which he was able to maintain till the end.  The burst of determination he put out at mile 1.5 was never really challenged.  It was as if the rest of the group, aware of his injuries, expected a flash in the pan.  Well the flash became a sustained burn which drove Ryan prentice to the 3A championship, the final race in the quest he began as a Sophomore, who became aware that he actually could work hard, prepare hard and train smart enough to become the best of the best.

Ryan will be continuing his Post Season performances at Borderclash in Portland,on Nov 18, the FootLocker Regionals at Mt.Sac on Dec 1, and hopefully FootLocker Nationals, Dec 8, at Balboa Park in San Diego.