Tahoma runners easily pass an early season test

There must be something in the water in Maple Valley. The Tahoma Bears put on a show at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational on Saturday, with their runners placing high in most of the categories in which they competed.

Senior standout Graeme Schroeder, who took the event last year, whittled almost 30 seconds off his time this year and cruised to a speedy 15:28:10 to repeat as the top finisher.

Also finishing high for the Bears were fourth-place Keegan Fitzpatrick (15:48:00) and eighth-place Dawson Besst (16:06:00).

Their performances at the meet exceeded Bears coach Jeff Brady’s expectations, and expectations are running high. Prior to the big early season test, the 4A Bears boys and girls were ranked first and third in the state, respectively, by the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association.

Last Wednesday, the Bears had a warm-up meet against the Kentwood Conquerors and cruised to a 15-42 win.

On the girls side, the Claremont High School Wolf Pack from Claremont, California, won the team event with 25 points. The Bears held off Kamiak to nab second place.

Individually, the Knights’ Taylor Roe at 18:22:90 and Katherine Slack at 18:57:70 finished first and third. . Savannah Craig from the Mountain View Thunder took second place at 18:38:00.

The Wolf Pack’s Annie Boos, Sydney Hwang, Kiana Cavanaugh, Tess Round and Jax Heckler swept the next five places.

Peyton Shinnick was the top Bears’ finisher, taking 10th place at 19:21:60.

Brady is quick to deflect credit for his school’s success.

“It’s really not me, it’s the kids,” he said. Brady added that he continues to build the runners’ confidence, relying on older students.

Schroeder said consistency is the biggest challenge that Tahoma faces. To get ready for this meet, he said, the teams didn’t do anything exceptional from last year, just different types of workouts and a focus on endurance.

“If it works, don’t fix it,” he said after the race.

Schroeder is noncommittal about where he will run next year. He is entertaining thoughts about Colorado State. But no formal decision has been made.

Meet director Rob Whitacre said the invitational keeps getting bigger every year. This year, there were 68 schools with more than 2,700 runners competing in the 14 events.

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Tahoma runners easily pass an early season test."