Northwest Athletes at Arcadia

  Action in the girls’ 3200 Meter was quite impressive and it had a fine field assembled to contest the matter.   Lauren Hollander and Sarah Baxter were vying for the lead after only one lap and Katie Knight was close behind.    Anna Maxwell of California & Rolonda Jumbo of Arizona were in the mix early but the tone of the race was set by the time that the leaders hit the 800M mark in 2:30.   By that time Katie Knight was safely ensconced in third and the leaders began to roll through consistent laps of 78 & 77.   Those early split marks were 3:48 and 5:05 through the half way mark and by that time the trio up front had established a sizable gap over their rivals.  

     Baxter running on the lead looked quite smooth as she glided along the track.  Hollander & Baxter remained close behind as the trio widened the gap over their closest pursuers.   The split was 6:22 after five laps, which saw Knight seeming to struggle a bit to remain close.   Baxter added a second straight lap of 77 seconds for a split of 7:40, which finally forced the valiant Knight to give way, which left her to run alone.     It remained a two lady race, when the bell rang at 8:56.15 but Sarah Baxter began a relentless surge to the wire thereafter to win in an excellent time of 10:08.02.   Lauren Hollander finished in second with 10:10, while Knight was a fine third with 10:20.   Emily Nist of Idaho placed a solid ninth in the loaded field with a mark of 10:26.   The top three finishers now have the first, fourth & fifth best times in the nation for the 2012 season.

The guys’ version of the race saw Futsum Zeinasellassie take the pace out early with Dallin Farnsworth right off his shoulder.   The large field began to string out early, although it was more for everyone to stay out of trouble than due to the pace but Cameron Miller assumed the lead prior to the 800 meters.  He hit that mark in 2:17 followed by Futsum and Dallin.   A mark of 3:22 for the next split did little to break up the pack but Futsum dropped back to four to run near Tony Smoragiewicz and the ensuing splits were 4:31 & 5:39.  Craig Nowak of Texas joined the fray about that and was a part of the scrum, which included Smorgy & Dallin, near the lead during the ensuing split of 6:48.  

   It was Futsum, who decided with two laps to go that the pace had been too weak and he upped the ante with a brisk lap of 62.   It appeared that he might break away but suddenly after the bell clanged in 7:50, Bernie Montoya broke into a sprint.  He bolted past Futsum and opened up a good ten meter lead, which had “Z” looking over his shoulder.   The race appeared over but Futsum surged  on the final turn and caught Montoya as they headed into the final straight.  Zeinasellassie then showed surprising strength as he drew away from Montoya.   The final time was a brisk 8:47, while Montoya finished with 8:48.  Craig Nowak followed in 8:49.  Dallin Farnsworth placed ninth in 8:55.  The race was so loaded with talent that sixteen runner broke the magic nine minute barrier.  Auburn Riverside’s Kory Krotzer just missed, yet he ended with a state-leading 9:01.

       The Men’s Mile saw Brad Nye of Utah follow up his Simplot victory with an excellent time of 4:08, which barely topped White River’s Marcus Dickson, who ran 4:09.  Ryan Silva was third in 4:10.             Freshman Elijah Armstrong of Highland HS in Pocatello led for the better part of another 3200M and placed third with 9:04.  Santos Vargas of Eisenhower in Yakima placed 8th with 9:11.

        Amy-Eloise Neale of Glacier Peak claimed the featured girls’ mile with a time of 4:51 to defeat Ashleigh Werner of Utah, who ran 4:52.  Seattle’s Maddie Meyers garnered third in 4:55.   Hannah McInturff of Century HS in Idaho placed third in her heat with 5:06, while Rachel Atwood of Auburn Riverside took fifth in another heat with 5:05.    Will Drinkwater of Gig Harbor ran 1:54 in the 800M.  The girls’ 800M marked the second solid effort at Arcadia for Amy-Eloise Neale, who placed second behind Savannah Comacho, who ran 2:07.   Amy ran 2:10.00 to edge Shea Martinez of Utah.  Morgan Dampier of Wasilla, Alaska finished seventh in the race with 2:12.    Not to be overlooked is Tyler York of Eisenhower, who ran 10:29 in another heat of the 3200M.

        We will have more later