THE ISSAQUAHPRESS
SPORTS
B4
Wednesday October 23, 2013
Patriots cross-country squads finish undefeated in KingCo By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com On the back of the Liberty cross-country team’s blue sweatshirts is an outline of Washington state. Superimposed across it are the words “We run this place.” The 2013 Patriots are well on the way to living up to the phrase, having just completed an undefeated KingCo 3A/2A regular season. Both Liberty boys and girls teams captured perfection with wins against Mercer Island and Mount Si in an Oct. 16 dual meet at Mercer Island’s Luther Burbank Park. After top seniors Allie BY GREG FARRAR Aaron Bowe (right), Liberty High School senior, and sophomore Collin Olson run with three Wood and Megan Chucka Islanders in the lead pack Oct. 16 at their cross country meet. Bowe won in 15 minutes, 38 sec- graduated from last year’s onds and Olson took second in 15:59. team, which finished fifth
at state, Liberty coach Mike Smith said he wasn’t sure how the 2013 girls squad would fare. That doubt was erased almost immediately, as the Patriots appeared to reload, rather than rebuild, with the addition
of two star freshmen in twins Brigette and Kelsey Takeuchi. “Really, we gained what we lost,” Smith said. “All the girls from last year are one year faster, and then See PATRIOTS, Page B5
BY GREG FARRAR
Brigette Takeuchi, Liberty High School freshman, leaves everyone behind at the finish line with a time of 18 minutes, 38 seconds
Schrag, Clawson solidify status as Eagles’ top runners By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com Their teams haven’t had the type of season they were hoping for, but Issaquah High School runners Kennan Schrag and Ellie Clawson aren’t being deterred from their individual goals. Schrag, a sophomore, topped the boys field, and Clawson, a junior, won the girls race when Issaquah squared off with Skyline and Newport in an Oct. 16 KingCo Conference cross country race at Bellevue’s Kelsey Creek Park. In the boys race, Issaquah fell short of rival Skyline, which captured the team win with 34 points. However, the Eagles (48 points) won a tiebreaker and defeated Newport for their second win of the season. Issaquah’s top three runners set the pace for the first half of the 3.1-mile race. Schrag, fellow sophomore Jacob Brueckman, and senior Caleb Walin got out quickly and formed their own pack. “I was hoping that the other guys would be up there, too, so I was kind of worried if I was going out too fast when I didn’t see any of them the first mile,” Schrag said. “But it turned out all right, I guess, and it looks like the team did pretty well.” Schrag ended up pulling away to a first-place time of 16 minutes, 57 seconds, defeating runner-up James Hamilton, of Newport, by 22 seconds. Walin held on for fifth place in 17:23,
BY NEIL PIERSON
Caleb Walin, Issaquah High School senior, has a strong race Oct. 16 at Kelsey Creek Park, finishing third in 17 minutes, 23 seconds. BY NEIL PIERSON
Ellie Clawson, Issaquah High School junior, breaks away from the pack early on, winning in 19 minutes, 59 seconds at an Oct. 16 KingCo cross country race against Newport and Skyline. and Brueckman was ninth in 17:44. Schrag ran at Kelsey Creek Park for the first time, and said there were several factors that contributed to a relatively slow race. His personal best time is 16:33, and he posted a mark of 16:35 four days earlier at the Hole in the Wall Invitational in Arlington. “It was a tough course — there was a bunch of gravel, for one, and then the hill twice,” he said.
“The gravel obviously slows us down, but then the competition wasn’t very dense in the front.” Schrag said he was looking forward to the Oct. 24 KingCo championships at Lincoln Park in Seattle, when the pressure ratchets up. For many runners and teams, their seasons will end. “I think we can get the team to at least districts, and maybe one or two of us to state,” Schrag said. Brendan Long led Skyline to
the team victory, placing third in 17:20. Teammate Joey Nakao was sixth in 17:25, but had to be helped from the course at the finish line with what appeared to be a leg injury. The Spartans placed their seven varsity runners in the top 12. Tennyson Hainsworth was seventh (17:35) and Ryan Abrahamsen was eighth (17:40). Clawson reached a milestone at the Hole in the Wall event, which featured some of the top athletes from around the state. “I got a personal best, and I finally broke 19 (minutes), so that was nice,” she said. Although she was running on a slower course at Kelsey
Creek Park, which showed in her winning time of 19:59, she had no problem taking charge. She surged to a comfortable lead in the first quarter-mile and kept widening it from there. Skyline senior Alex Daugherty was the runner-up in 20:23. Issaquah’s girls improved their dual-meet record to 1-5 as they outscored Newport 51-55. Junior Ellie Hendrickson was eighth (21:11) and junior Abby Wilson was 10th (21:24). Clawson is a two-time Class 4A state qualifier, and she’s in line to improve upon her previous two finishes if she turns in another sub-19 effort. The state meet is Nov. 9 at Pasco’s Sun Willows Golf Course. “I really want my team to be with me, but we’ll see,” Clawson said. “A lot of the girls are seniors and juniors, but we do have quite a few underclassmen.” Skyline’s girls are shooting to return to Pasco as one of the state’s top-16 squads, and their performance at the Hole in the Wall Invitational indicated they may be ready to do it. The Spartans were sixth overall, and trailed only Bellarmine Prep and Roosevelt among the 4A teams in attendance. Sophomore Maizy Brewer has consistently been among Skyline’s top runners this season. Brewer placed third at Kelsey Creek Park in 20:24, and said the Hole in the Wall run might be the equivalent of a postseason race. “That’s definitely a good race to See RUNNERS, Page B5
Spartans best Wolves in key KingCo soccer match By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com Two days after their offense took much of the game to find a rhythm, the Skyline Spartans girls soccer team was looking for a quick start. Needing a victory over rival Eastlake to keep pace with first-place Issaquah, the Spartans scored twice before halftime and shut down a late rally from the Wolves for a 4-1 victory in KingCo Conference play Oct. 17 at Spartan Stadium. Goals from Amanda Johnston in the 17th minute and Kelli Sullivan in the 30th minute secured Skyline’s fast start, something the team was unable to do in an Oct. 15 contest
at Garfield. Against Garfield, the Spartans went to halftime in a scoreless tie, then needed two goals in the final four minutes for a 3-1 win. Johnston, a junior forward, said it was encouraging that the Spartans were able to flip a switch and score when they had to, but it wasn’t a pattern they wanted to repeat against a hungry Eastlake side that’s still battling for a playoff berth. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on a lot, because we think we’re a secondhalf team,” Johnston said. “We’re trying to improve that and just get on them first half, get on them first 10 minutes, and then close them out when we can.” Eastlake showed it was a determined, desperate
team early in the match. The Wolves had long stretches of possession and a couple decent scoring chances. But Eastlake’s strong start fizzled when Aleisha Gable found Sullivan in the penalty area. Sullivan was able to slip the ball past goalkeeper Natalie LaTurner to an open Johnston, who buried her shot high into the net for a 1-0 Skyline lead. “That was a lot of (Sullivan’s) work,” Johnston said of the play. “Usually when I see that situation, you know the ball’s going to get knocked out because nobody really knows where the ball is. And then I just BY DALE GARVEY
See SOCCER,
Skyline’s Lindsey Fujiwara rises up to win the ball from Eastlake’s Grace Glover during an Oct. Page B5 17 KingCo Conference girls soccer match. Skyline won, 4-1.