GXC Girls defeated by West Seattle
Ellie Wakefield
The Garfield girls cross country team came to Lincoln park ready to fight this Friday.
The West Seattle girls had one runner we knew was going to be hard to beat, but the rest of their varsity team seemed ill-matched for Garfield. One mile into the race, Garfield was running well, with a few of the varsity runners sticking together: a tactic that helps with pacing and morale. The subsequent miles were some of tough terrain and tested mental perseverance. Crossing the finish line first was West Seattle’s top runner, followed a couple minutes later by two West Seattle runners and a Garfield Bulldog. The group of three runners had stuck fiercely together the entire race, with the GHS runner holding onto the leading position until the last 100 meters of the race where her Wildcat counterparts passed and finished one and two seconds ahead, respectively.
This ill-fated event cost the Garfield girls the race. Though West Seattle held the top three finishing places, the subsequent five were held by Bulldogs, all finishing sub-23 minutes. In most races, the top five runners from each team are scored and by this method, GHS won the meet. However, because of where West Seattle’s fifth runner placed, she got bumped up and scored as higher than where she finished, allowing West Seattle to take the win.
The loss was not taken easily by the team, especially given the extra training and hard work that had been put in the previous week in preparation for this meet. Looking forward, the Garfield runners now focused on training for the State meet which will be held this Wednesday, April 7th on the GHS track.
The West Seattle girls had one runner we knew was going to be hard to beat, but the rest of their varsity team seemed ill-matched for Garfield. One mile into the race, Garfield was running well, with a few of the varsity runners sticking together: a tactic that helps with pacing and morale. The subsequent miles were some of tough terrain and tested mental perseverance. Crossing the finish line first was West Seattle’s top runner, followed a couple minutes later by two West Seattle runners and a Garfield Bulldog. The group of three runners had stuck fiercely together the entire race, with the GHS runner holding onto the leading position until the last 100 meters of the race where her Wildcat counterparts passed and finished one and two seconds ahead, respectively.
This ill-fated event cost the Garfield girls the race. Though West Seattle held the top three finishing places, the subsequent five were held by Bulldogs, all finishing sub-23 minutes. In most races, the top five runners from each team are scored and by this method, GHS won the meet. However, because of where West Seattle’s fifth runner placed, she got bumped up and scored as higher than where she finished, allowing West Seattle to take the win.
The loss was not taken easily by the team, especially given the extra training and hard work that had been put in the previous week in preparation for this meet. Looking forward, the Garfield runners now focused on training for the State meet which will be held this Wednesday, April 7th on the GHS track.