The Narrows League Cross Country championships

The Narrows League cross country championship last Thursday at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Fort Steilacoom Park showcased the fastest runners in the Narrows League. Central Kitsap’s Shane Moskowitz facing Gig Harbor Conner Peloquin made for a special race. Moskowits, in the closing moments, broke lose winning easily with a time of 16:58. Gig Harbor won the title with 37 points.

“My race strategy was to take an easy. I wanted to stay close with Conner, because I knew he was going to go all out, it wasn’t easy. On the last hill I just surged and broke away there. I zeroed in my 800 hundred training at the end and gave it all I had.

For the girls’ race, Clare Kane of Olympia won the title with a time of 18:13. Gig Harbor made it a team-championship double by scoring 35 points.

“ I knew Maureen Tremblay (18:24) always goes out hard, so I knew I had to hang on. On the first hill she showed her hill strength,” Kane said. “I made my move on the flats and caught up to her. I kicked it in on last down hill, on the last 400 I could feel her behind me. I just pushed it on through.”

With the cut-off of 30 runners set for qualifying for the West Central District Meet, runners pushed their limits: specifically Wilson’s senior Heather Willis. Willis, coming off an 8th place finish at the TPS championships, built on that momentum, pulling ahead of the group coming in 25th place. With a time of 20:27, she qualified for districts.

“I felt really good out there today, I ran a personal best. We went out fast in our first mile because it is flat,” Wilson said. On the hills I knew I had to pick it up and run hard. This race I think we did better because our coach gave us a little more time off, our legs were just fresher. I had the breakfast of champions this morning “Luck charms.” It worked.

“The girls ran much better this week. Heather and Michelle really did well,” Wilson’s coach Keith Wren said. “We talked about the top thirty - that’s how you move on to the next week. The girls were well aware of their spot in the race. At the mile marker they were in 31st and 32nd. They quickly picked up the pace and put themselves in the position to qualify.”