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Rick Becker Breaks 3000 Meter Record

Rick Becker broke the American age group (55+) record at 3000 meter with a time of 9:31.86.

Photo taken by Anthony Seabolt at a recent CNW All Comers Track Meet.

Cross Country Season Looking Bright for WWU

BELLINGHAM, Wash. --- With five All-Americans among the eight runners back from the 14 it took to the NCAA Division II National Championships last fall, Western Washington University is looking for a third straight Top 10 national finish by both its men’s and women’s cross country teams this fall.

Last year at nationals, the Vikings enjoyed the finest harrier day in school history as the men placed fourth and the women eighth, the best NCAA finish by either squad since the school became a member in 1998. Both teams finished 10th at nationals in 2008, and the men were 11th in 2007.

This season, the Western men are picked to place sixth and the Viking women seventh in their respective United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Preseason Polls.

“I think we have a great shot at both squads again being in the Top 10 (at nationals),” said Pee Wee Halsell, who is entering his 24th season as Western’s coach and is a four-time GNAC men’s Coach of the Year. “We have a few hurdles to get over, but overall it’s looking very good.”

Pacing the Western men, who placed second at regionals and won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in 2009, are three USTFCCCA All-Americans – seniors Jordan Welling (Burlington/Burlington-Edison), Bennett Grimes (Pocatello, ID/Century) and Blake Medhaug (Bothell).

Welling placed a team-best 13th at nationals last year, earning All-America recognition for the second straight season after finishing 29th in 2008.

Grimes, who was 56th in 2009, earned All-America honors in 2007 and 2008, placing 43rd and 41st, respectively, at nationals. Medhaug, who was 61st in 2009, received All-America recognition in 2008, finishing 36th.

“Welling is coming off a great year and he’ll be our anchor,” Halsell said. “All three have had great summers (conditioning) and it would be great to get all of them among the top 40 at nationals.” 

Leading the Viking women, who placed fourth at regionals and third at the GNAC Championships in 2009, is senior All-American Sarah Porter (Hockinson), already recognized as the best woman distance runner in school history. She is among the favorites to take the individual national title this season after placing second by less than seven seconds last year behind graduated Jessica Pixler from Seattle Pacific, who won her third straight crown. Porter also placed second to Pixler at the West Regional and GNAC Championships.

Porter’s runner-up national finish was the best by any cross country runner in WWU history. She also was an All-American in 2008, placing 13th.

Lauren Breihof (Vancouver/Mountain View), a junior, placed 31st nationally in 2009 to earn All-America honors. She finished 53rd in 2008.

At nationals in 2009, Western placed all seven of its men competitors among the top 100. Also back from that group are two juniors, Eric Brill (Kent/Kentwood), who finished 52nd, and Yonas Berhe (Seattle/Roosevelt), who was 97th.

“Brill’s health will be one of our keys,” said Halsell. “He was bothered by an Achilles’ tendon problem last spring.”

Three standout freshmen for the Vikings are Graham Armstrong (Manhattan, KS), Tanner Boyd (Camas) and Chip Jackson (Shoreline/Shorewood), who placed 15th at the Class 4A state meet.

Another top returnee for the Western women is junior Sierra Brisky (Acme/Mount Baker), who placed 153rd at nationals last year.

Adding to the depth are four runners who were redshirts last year. Three of them placed at nationals in 2008. Sophomore Phoebe Hartnett (San Diego, CA/Patrick Henry) finished 120th, sophomore Rachael Johnson (Yakima/West Valley) 115th, and senior McKinley Williams (Federal Way/Todd Beamer) 149th. Rounding out the quartet is senior Cheryl Watson (Olympia).

A top newcomer for the Vikings is transfer Lacey Nation (Marysville/Lakewood), a sophomore from NCAA I Gonzaga.

Two other returnees of note are sophomores Jessica Boyer (Columbia Falls, MT) and Kristi Fairbanks (Snohomish).

“This will be a group of seasoned veterans and that will be our strength,” Halsell said. “The aspirations are there and that is key.”

Western, ranked second in the preseason USTFCCCA West Region men’s poll and third in the women’s poll, opens its season Sept. 4, competing in the Lake Padden Relays. It is the first of four home meets for the Vikings, who have the WWU Tune-Up on Oct. 9 and the 37th annual Western Classic Invitational on Oct. 23 before playing host to the NCAA Division II West Regional on Nov. 20.

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY - SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE

Fri., Aug. 27, 2010

Director: Paul Madison Assistant: Butch Kamena

360-650-3108, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , wwuvikings.com,

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Club NW Runners Take 10K Honors

Big day for local runners as they race the streets of Snoqualmie

By RHETT WORKMAN
Snoqualmie Valley Record Sports contributing Writer
It was a great morning for one local running club as they swept the titles in the 10k race at the Snoqualmie Days run in Snoqualmie.

Competitors representing the Seattle-based Club Northwest team won both the men's and women's 10k races, part of a threesome of runs which also included a 5k and kids' race.

The 10k men’s winner was Seattle resident Mark Mandi. Mandi clocked a time of 31:23 to beat out Snoqualmie resident – and race organizer – Sean Sundwall by seven seconds. Sundwall was the top Valley finisher in the 10k with a time of 31:30. Mandi was able to stay focused despite Sundwall’s best efforts. "I just told myself to be patient and to stay tough and then Sean was starting to pick up the pace and I was like 'I don’t know if I could hang,' but I just persevered,” Mandi said.

Fellow Club Northwest runner Claudia Copeland took the 10k women’s race in a time of 35:23. Copeland, from Olympia, was pleased with her efforts. "I felt pretty good, especially at the beginning of the race. I’m happy with it, (it was) my first time running this race,” Copeland said.

In the shorter 5k race, Olympia’s Jesse Stevick took the crown with a winning time of 15:46. Stevick, like the 10k women’s winner Copeland, was running the race for the first time, and indicated it was because of how well run the event is. "I knew that it was going to be well-run because Sean (Sundwall), from Club Northwest, he (pays) a lot of attention to detail,” Stevick said.

Woodinville resident Erica Pitman took the women’s 5k with a time of 17:40. Fall City resident Dominick Canady was the top local finisher in the 5k; he clocked a time of 18:39 which was good for eighth place in the race.

The kids 1k race was won by North Bend soon-to-be sixth grader Conner Drake. Drake, who will be attending Twin Falls Middle School this fall, had to work a little harder to get the victory. "(It was) very challenging at the end because I had a bad cramp, and it was actually kind of fun,” Drake said.

There were a total of nearly 1,000 runners who competed in the various races combined. Runners on the 5k and 10k courses were treated to a very flat and fast layout which utilized a number of streets in and around downtown Snoqualmie, including Railroad Avenue, Park St., and Mill Pond Road. Kids’ 1k runners stayed exclusively on Railroad Avenue for their entire run. Sundwall said this course appealed to all different skill levels. “This has been a favorite of recreational runners as well as elite runners," he said.

The majority of competitors came from Washington state, but there were several out-of-state competitors, coming from, among other places, as far away as Chicago, Washington, DC, and Hilo, Hawaii, to participate.

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/svr/sports/101235754.html

Everson Teen Breaks Record

DAVID RASBACH

Nooksack Valley High School senior Oliver Bear Don't Walk knew he had a good shot at breaking the American junior outdoor track and field record in the 50,000 meters when he woke up Thursday, Aug. 12.

But the 17-year-old runner from Everson didn't know he would obliterate the 27-year-old mark by more than 71 minutes.

Bear Don't Walk, who runs for coach Joel Pearson and the Harrier Track Club, covered the 50-kilometer distance in 3 hours, 10 minutes and 7.2 seconds at Bellingham's Civic Stadium. That bettered the old mark of 4:21:09 set May 4, 1984, by 19-year-old Danny Wilcoxson in Greensburg, Ky.

"We knew we could break the record," Bear Don't Walk said in a phone interview after accomplishing the feat. "Joel told me before we went out that he wanted me to run amazing. I knew I was ahead of the record pace, but I was surprised to see how fast we finished."

Bear Don't Walk averaged about a six-minute-mile pace with a number of family members in the stadium cheering him on.

He knew the record was in his reach after he completed an estimated 50 km in Birch Bay earlier this summer in 3 hours, 25 minutes.

"I was pretty sure I could repeat that if I needed to," he said.

Pearson and Bear Don't Walk entered the day hoping to knock about an hour off Wilcoxson's time.

"Oliver, in our opinion, was definitely capable of running the 50K and breaking 3:20," Pearson said in a phone interview. "But when you're trying to run a six-minute-mile pace for that long, things can go wrong. One little thing when you're running that distance turns into the biggest thing in the world. Somehow, Olie was able to function, not only under pressure, but when he was weak and dehydrated, at a world-class level.

"I am surprised that he broke the record by 71 minutes, not that he ran a good race or that he broke the record."

Bear Don't Walk already had an impressive list of distance-running accomplishments.

He finished in the top 30 at the Class 1A State Cross Country Championships all three years he ran for Nooksack Valley, highlighted by a fourth-place finish last November that helped the Pioneers to the team title. He also placed 14th out of 25 runners in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Junior National Track and Field Championships earlier this summer and set a personal record of 136 miles run in one week last month.

"This was definitely the biggest thing I have accomplished," Bear Don't Walk said. "It was pretty amazing. There were a couple points afterwards where I almost started to cry as I began to realize what we had done."

The record won't officially belong to Bear Don't Walk until Pearson sends in the paperwork and USA Track and Field signs off on it.

Pearson said there are specific rules that needed to be followed. Those included setting up cones around the corners at Civic Stadium, where there are no inside rails, to make sure the full distance was run, and having enough timers to monitor each of the 125 laps Bear Don't Walk completed and write down the splits.

The track club also had to stage an actual race for Bear Don't Walk's time to count, as he ran against Blaine High School sophomore Tom Bradley and former Whatcom Community College runner Cory Jenkins. Pearson said Jenkins dropped out about 12,000 meters into the race, while Bradley made it to the 21,000-meter mark.

Even Bear Don't Walk had some hurdles to clear during Thursday's race, which started at 7:15 a.m. to avoid the afternoon temperatures.

"Somewhere around halfway, I think I had pounded down too much water, and I puked up everything," Bear Don't Walk said. "For some reason, that seemed to help me. It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. After getting out and setting the pace, I got to the last 10 miles and it was all about just trying to stay in that six-minute range. It got harder and harder to do that."

Though he plans to limit himself to an "easier, slower two-mile run" on Friday, Bear Don't Walk said he next plans to run the Teepee Creepers in Montana later this month. He then hopes to compete in the Skagit Flats Marathon in September and has designs on winning the Seattle Marathon in late November.

But to accomplish those goals, Bear Don't Walk said he would not be able to run cross country at Nooksack Valley this fall.

"It was a really hard decision, and I gave it a lot of thought," Bear Don't Walk said. "About two weeks ago, I decided what I wanted to do. I really wish the best to Nooksack and all the boys' and girls' runners and the coaches there, but I think it's best for me to stay with Joel."

Bear Don't Walk said he and Pearson will continue working on running distances up to 50 km, though one day he'd like to try running even farther.

If he does, he'll find a familiar name to shoot for in the record books. Wilcoxson's record time in the 50 km was actually only a split time to his national junior record marks in the 100 km (10:17:30) and 100 mile (21:09.40), which he also set May 4, 1984, according the USATF website.

"That's pretty amazing," Bear Don't Walk said. "He was running a lot longer than I was. Running that long has got to be tough on your body. I can't imagine running 50K at the pace he did and then running beyond that. Running that long is definitely a lot tougher than what I have done."

But running six-minute miles for more than three hours is no small accomplishment, either.

Pearson said Bear Don't Walk's time was the third fastest in the 50 km by a U.S. runner - junior or open divisions - so far this year, regardless of whether it was run on the faster road courses or on a track.

"You look at the splits, and you see this kid was throwing them down," Pearson said. "This is definitely a world-class time."

thenewstribune.com

Maj. Megan McClung Remembrance Run

By KATIE MCVICKER

Whidbey News Times

When Megan McClung arrived somewhere, there was no doubt she had arrived. Her flaming red hair and strong personality earned her nicknames like “Firecracker,” “Tigger” and “Ladybug.” So it wasn’t surprising on Saturday morning to see hundreds of people at the Navy base anxious to keep her memory alive.

Coupeville residents Mike and Re McClung held a race to honor their daughter Megan McClung who was killed in Iraq while working as a public affairs officer. About 237 people ran in the Whidbey Island race and 550 ran in a similar race in Afghanistan for Megan, the biggest turnouts yet. All of the money raised through race registration and donations was given to the Semper Fi Fund which aids injured Marines and Navy Corpsmen.

Right before the runners headed to the starting line, Chaplain King led a prayer.

“Help us today to be better than we were before,” he said, “just like Megan would want. ... As in her words, help us to be bold, be brief and right now, to be gone.”

Next year, the McClungs want to do something special for the race’s fifth anniversary. They’re considering using a PA system to ensure better organization and may even add a half marathon course. Additionally, 1st Lt. Joe Diniega said the base will increase planning time for future races.

“Hopefully it gets better and bigger ever year,” Diniega said.

All of the runners seemed inspired out on the course and appeared to enjoy themselves.

Heidi Vongrey came with her daughter’s cross-country team. She said she had read about the cause and, despite her lack of cardio training, felt compelled to attend.

“We just woke up and put our shoes on,” she said.

Another participant crossed the finish line with a large smile on his face, ran over to Megan’s parents and said, “What a wonderful thing this is. As long as I can run, I’ll be here.”

Re McClung, Megan’s mom, said a race was a perfect medium for the fundraiser since physical fitness was so important to Megan. According to Re, often after Megan would complete a race, she would run backwards from the finish line and bring water bottles to those who were struggling to encourage them to continue.

“She’s out there on the course today somewhere,” Re McClung said. “I’m sure of it.”