Tides win fifth straigth Narrows League title

GH surges past league competition, prepares for districts and state

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

The Gig Harbor cross country team doesn’t know anything different except winning the Class 4A Narrows League meet.

The Tides girls won their fifth consecutive league championship last Wednesday at Fort Steilacoom Park in Tacoma. The boys captured their fourth consecutive league title.

The 3.1 mile course yielded what the Gig Harbor athletes hoped: To establish a personal best for nearly every runner, which sets the stage for districts and state.

The boys and girls teams had nearly identical placements, each placing four runners in the top 10. Tides head coach Patty Ley said the team is in a good phase of their training.

“The big thing is our kids can get good times and feel good,” Ley said.

The competition stiffens this Saturday as Gig Harbor looks to earn another top finish at the West Central District meet at the American Lake Golf Course.

The top six teams from a 16-team competition advance directly to state with the top 30 placing individual runners moving on to the state meet in Pasco.

Girls

Gig Harbor junior Maureen Tremblay had never raced in the league championships before.

You wouldn’t have been able to tell by her performance.

Tremblay landed a second-place finish with a lifetime best 18 minutes, 24.80 seconds. She positioned herself at the front of the pack — alongside Olympia’s defending league champion Clare Kane — for a good portion of the race.

Kane won (18:13.78) but Tremblay said she felt just fine about her 35-second personal best improvement.

“Going into the season, I didn’t know where I was going to be,” Tremblay said about her spot as a varsity runner. “I’m really happy and our team did amazing,”

The girls cruised to its fifth league championship with a score of 35. Bellarmine Prep — who has an extremely young team — placed second with 62 points.

Six girls placed in the top 25 and four in the top 10. Gig Harbor junior Brittany Kealy notched fourth place in 19:12.57.

“We’re finally seeing the times come down,” Kealy said.

Boys

The boys matched the girls’ performance by dominating the league meet with a score of 37 points. Each of the seven runners placed in the top 25.

Tides senior Conner Peloquin earned second place behind Shane Moskowitz, who won in convincing manner with a 15:05.41 league championship finish.

Peloquin managed to lead for a majority of the race, but Moskowitz began his final kick earlier and never looked back during the final mile.

Rain began at the start of the competition and continued throughout the entire race. It didn’t bother sophomore Joe Gagliano, who landed 10th with a lifetime best 16:41.89.

“We got a lot of kids up front,” Gagliano said.

Knowing the bigger races are soon to come, Gagliano said winning league puts them in a good mental state for districts.

Gig Harbor’s Spencer Payne — who placed fifth in 16:13.36 — said the team made a move at the two-mile mark and broke from there. His lifetime best improvement reflects the team’s pursuit of a solid state performance.

“This is a foreshadowing of what’s to come and how well we can run as a team, Payne said.”

West Central District cross country Class 3A schedule

The Peninsula girls race at 1 p.m. and the boys at 2:30 p.m. The competition will take place at American Lake Golf Course on Saturday.

The top six teams will qualify to the state meet in Pasco and the top 30 individual runners will advance.

GH boys and girls times

Boys

Senior Conner Peloquin — second (15:14.37) lifetime best

Senior pencer Payne — fifth (16:13.36) lifetie best

Sophomore Casey Peloquin — ninth (16:38.66) lifetime best

Sophomore oe Gagliano — 10th (16:41.89) lifetime best

Senior Seth Johnson — 11th (16:45.07) lifetime best

Sophomore Luke Hoffman — 13th (16:48.50) lifetime best

Will Drinkwater, 25th (17:16.78)

Girls

Sophomore Maureen Tremblay — second (18:24.80) lifetime best

Junior Brittany Kealy — fourth (19:12.57) lifetime best

Senior Erin Hull — fifth (19:27.41)

Senior Cara Saxon — ninth (19:30.90)

Junior Danie Moon — 15th (19:47.22)

Junior Kelly Williams — 18th (19:57.44)

Ally Bujacich — 32nd (20:52.20)