Moving in the right direction

Tides junior Conner Peloquin earns second place in the 3,200-meter event

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

Gig Harbor junior Conner Peloquin has a sweet tooth for distance running, literally and physically.

Three hours before the 3,200-meter event during the first day of the Class 4A state track and field championships at Mount Tahoma on Thursday night, Peloquin rips open a fresh bag of Pop Tarts.

He chomps through two sugar-rich, strawberry-flavored delights as a pre-race meal. It’s a sweetened snack some distance runners have never tried.

“I don’t know if it’s a secret, but it’s worked so far,” Peloquin said.

And what does he wash the Pop Tarts down with?

Peloquin grabs a yogurt smoothie, shakes it up, and guzzles it. The combination has been a key to his success this year in track and field.

It showed last week when he became the runner-up in the 3,200 meter finals with a lifetime best finish of 9 minutes, 5.37 seconds.

Since he first began competing in high school for cross country and track and field, it’s been a tradition for Peloquin to eat Pop Tarts.

“It works so I’m not going to mess with it,” he said. “It’s kind of grown to be a ritual.”

Although Central Kitsap junior Shane Moskowitz prefers almonds and Gatorade — it was a mixture that gave him the energy to win the 3,200 championship with a time of 8:59.53 — Peloquin was thrilled to see a lifetime best at the state meet.

On Saturday during the 1 mile competition, Peloquin – as usual – downed his same meal and finished 11th in 4:21.62.

Having never advanced to the state competition before – mainly because he was injured last year – he said it’s good experience under his belt.

“I ran a pretty good race against the best kid (Moskowitz) in the state,” he said. “Now I can look forward to next year,” he said.

During the race, which took place under the lights at the new 4A/3A/2A venue of Mount Tahoma Stadium, Peloquin knew he had a shot of winning at the 1-mile mark.

He surged past Wilson senior Kevin Rosaaen, although both were vying for second place throughout the competition.

“My legs felt like they had quite a bit in them,” Peloquin said at the 3,200 halfway point. “At that point, I was like ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have a shot to win this.’”

Peloquin’s kick in the last 200 meters was just enough to edge out Rosaaen (9:05.85) by less than a half of a second.

“I did everything in my power to not let him catch me,” Peloquin said. “I can just hope to be in the best position and kick a little bit faster. Fortunately, that’s what happened.”

At the end of the race on Thursday, Peloquin’s Pop Tarts and smoothie came up, as he showed strong signs of fatigue.

“Hopefully, next time, I can bring a little more and close the gap between us (Moskowitz),” he said.

Reach sports reporter Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246 or send an e-mail to marques.hunter@gateline.com