Penguins Run in Wolf Point; LaBrie Takes Third Place

The Whitewater Penguins have three new runners on the course this season. Our veteran, Shelbi LaBrie, is returning with the addition of Sommer Green (11th), Tyler Scheffelmear (11th), and Barrett Wasson (7th). It's been a fun three weeks leading up to our first race of the year. All four of my runners are so hard-working. They were pretty nervous to compete in their first race, but they did a great job.

On Friday the runners competed in 80+ degrees, so it was a hot, miserable one. The Wolf Point course is fairly flat with several small hills around miles one and two. This first meet of the year I stressed not jumping out too fast and finding a pace they could maintain for three miles. With new runners, this is the biggest lesson they will learn as the season goes on. We weren't worried about placing, just being able to find a groove and stick with it.

Sommer Green did not compete on Friday as she doesn't quite feel confident enough, but we'll get her on the course in a couple of weeks. Shelbi LaBrie had a goal of a 7-minute pace and was able to hold that for a mile, fell off a little bit on the second mile, and lost some steam in the third. She also got a little lost on the course as it isn't marked great, so this was a frustrating finish for her. But, she did finish and did so in 3rd place out of 46 runners with a time of 22.20, a great time for her first meet of the season. This time qualifies her for the state meet. Tyler Scheffelmear had his first 3.1 mile race ever and qualified for state as well! Tyler's first mile was a bit fast but he only fell off of the 7-minute pace by 30 seconds on the second mile, pushing through the third mile the best he could and ending in 43rd place out of 65 runners with a time of 23.33. I"m so excited for him and he can relax now that he has that first race and state qualifying time out of the way. Barrett Wasson is the first junior high runner I've ever had. The junior high race is a 1.5 mile race, half the length of the high school. Barrett had a goal pace of 9-minute miles and killed it with an 8:30 mile! He had a great kick at the end and placed 34th out of 78 runners with a time of 12.31.

I'm very proud of all three runners and excited to see how much everyone improves throughout the season. Malta and Dodson also competed very well and it was fun cheering for them along with my runners. We will be attending the Poplar Invite this upcoming Saturday. This course is a little more challenging and will test our runner's hill work! Good luck to all of our local teams this weekend!