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Teams show improvement at NWAACCs
The Advocate
Despite racing on a wet course in the NWAACC cross country Championships last Saturday, Head Coach Matt Hart said both teams turned in strong performances.
“It was pretty cold and the course was wet from the day before but I think the majority of our athletes had their best performance of the year,” said Hart.
“The difficulty levels of the various courses change, which make it difficult to judge a performance on times. But several of our athletes ran very close to their personal records on probably the most difficult course of the year.”
For the men, Matt Romey was the first to finish the course, in 39th place, with a time of 28:26.
Even with a tough course at Lewisville Park in Battle Ground, Wash., Hart said MHCC runner Gilmer Gongora had the meet of his life.
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“This is a very tough and slow course,” said Hart. “It is difficult to set new PRs (personal records) there. However, Gilmer Gongora ran the fastest race of his life in the 8000-meters with a time of 28:56.”
The men finished in ninth place and, according to Hart, it was successful year for the men. He said the best part was how close the men were. “We had a tight knit group of guys who all seemed to enjoy hanging out with each other,” said Hart.
Hart said he couldn’t be happier with how the women performed at the meet.
“I am very excited about our women's results this year, considering eight of nine women were first-year participants,” said Hart.
Amanda Faggard finished first among the MHCC women with a time of 19:42, which put her 10th overall in the meet. The team finished fifth.
“I could have done better,” said Faggard. “I could have gotten at least seventh but I took a wrong turn on the course and couldn’t catch up to the girls who passed me when I took the wrong turn.”
Hart said Katy Echauri set a lifetime PR while most of the other women ran very close to theirs on a slow course.
Hart said his favorite part was watching the women improve through the season.
“Keith (Maneval, assistant coach) and I enjoyed seeing our ‘rookies’ start in the early season with pretty rough performances while finishing with tons of improvement. I don't care what the score is as long as everyone did their best.”
Hart said he is ready for his returnees to step up next season.
“My expectations are for our returners is to pick up next year where they leave off after this spring track season,” he said. “In a sport that is determined, primarily, by your level of fitness, it is essential that the athletes stay fit. I am excited to see all of them compete in track as most of them seem to be in the best shape of their lives.”
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