MOUNTAIN WEST CLASSIC
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
BY David "Hawaiian Five-Oh" Taylor
US#7 SHADLE PARK GIRLS WIN BIG!
**TOP MONTANA JUGGERNAUT BOZEMAN 56-101!!!**
**PLACE 5 IN TOP 30!**
**ANDREA NELSON WINS IN 17:53!**
**NATHAN WEITZ 14:58!!!**
**MEAD BOYS ANSWER THE CALL AND WIN!**
MEAD WINS!
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This last week Mead Coach Steve Kiesel exhorted his senior class to step up and take ownership for the direction of the program in 2009. Answering in dramatic fashion, the Mead boys win over 52 teams! In a race that featured 363 runners, Mead placed 4 in the top 32 to top Spokane counterpart Lewis & Clark 130-142. This will certainly increase the confidence of the team and swing the pendelum of momentum in the direction of the defending state champions! Well done!
NATHAN WEITZ OF SHADLE PARK
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| WEITZ RUNS 14:58!! |
Lets start this thing off with Sophomore Nathan Weitz's performance at the Mountain West Classic. Today he became the 2nd runner to ever break 15 minutes on the Mountain West Classic course. He ran an astonishing 14:58. The other time this occured was in 2001 by Kurt Michels of Flathead High School who popped off a monumental 14:47. Michels went on to place 10th at the Footlocker West Regional, a place that would qualify a kid to nationals today. This should not come as a surprise as he has improved week after week this season. Last spring you might recall that as a freshman he rewrote Washington and Greater Spokane League freshman records with a 4:19 1600m and 9:13 3200m. Look out for this kid and look out for Shadle Park, as the dynamic duo of "Rapid Robert" Isitt and "Bullfrog" Bruce Heffercamp are setting a new standard of excellence for the Spokane Valley and the state of Washington.
SHADLE PARK GIRLS
Coach "Rapid Robert" Isitt and his girls terrorize the competition at the 43 team supermeet Mountain West Classic. In a race that totalled 320 competitors the Highlanders Place 5 in the top 30 besting Montana juggernaut Bozeman 56-101. For a clearer perspective on how good this Shadle team is, Bozeman was recently bested by Idaho's top team, Mountain View by 1 point. Today's performance by the rising girls of Shadle Park was a National Top 5 caliber showing.
From the moment I first met the Shadle Girls I knew there was something special about them. The
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sense of united purpose eminates from them to a degree I have never before experienced. Their confidence is unshakable because they know what they can do and that is first and foremost depend on each other. Week in and out they have put the pedal to the metal and sent message after message that they are not only the top team in the state, but are on the national field and ready to play. Week by week Coach Isitt has them improving, clearly displaying that they have not hit their peak. They just completed almost a half dozen meets in two weeks and have 11 days off until the Richland Invitational. Milesplit Washington will be there to document this historic run at state, regional, and national excellence.
Stop what you are doing right now and mark it down, the Shadle Park girls of 2009 are right now, one of the greatest teams ever produced out of the state of Washington and are on their way to seriously challenging for a State Championship and top state honors. Mark it down.
On the meet, Coach "Rapid Robert" Isitt states:
“I don’t know how to phrase it, I just, uh, it was a huge race and I just thought we would be pushed more. I don’t want that to sound bad, but we want to face better, stronger competition”...."I am getting used to this group, and their toughness, they just go out and run tough. We are looking forward to the chance to run against the Torrey Pines and the Glacier Peaks, we really are."
Shadle Park Top 5 Results
1st Andrea Nelson 17:53!!!
3rd Kendra Weitz 18:07
7th Katie Morris 18:35
16th Shayle Dezellem 19:09
29th Chelsea Chandler 19:34