Gig Harbor sweeps cross country district titles

Teams confident going into Saturday’s state meet in Pasco

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

LAKEWOOD Nobody on the Gig Harbor Tides cross country team expected Maureen Tremblay to be this good.

Even the sophomore was surprised Saturday when she won her first Class 4A West Central District cross country race at American Lake Golf Course in 18 minutes, 26.6 seconds.

“I figured I’d go strong and try to stay with it, and it worked, so I’m happy with it,” Tremblay said.

Along with Tremblay’s individual championship, the Gig Harbor girls claimed their fifth straight district championship by placing four in the top 15.

“This is our last dress rehearsal for state,” Tides head coach Patty Ley said. “I’m really pleased with how they raced.”

Tremblay, who was a second alternate to last year’s district competition, led the pack the entire race and surged forward to beat runner-up Alexia Martin of Kent Meridian by 14 seconds.

“I was thinking there was going to be someone on my shoulder, and it was a good feeling knowing there wasn’t,” Tremblay said.

Tremblay showed that racers who go out and run without any predispositions can sometimes be a good thing.

“I try not to have expectations,” Tremblay said. “I didn’t know how the race would go. Having no expectations has been a good thing.”

The ceiling continues to rise for Tremblay going into Saturday’s state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. She gained considerable momentum after she earned a lifetime best during the Narrows League championships (18:24.80) a week prior to the district event.

Gig Harbor senior Erin Hull (19:26.1) was separated by seven-tenths of a second between her 12th-place finish and Bellarmine Prep freshman Daryl Phill, who landed 14th in 19:26.8.

Hull said the Gig Harbor girls tried to stay together.

“The most important race is state in our eyes, but it definitely helps our confidence to get this race,” Hull said. “This is practice for state.”

Hull added that having Tremblay as a frontrunner is great for the team.

“It’s really exciting,” Hull said. “None of us were expecting it. We expected her to be on varsity, but as the No. 1 and in districts is really amazing.”

Tremblay has improved her 5,000-meter course time by more than two minutes dating back to when she won the junior varsity league meet as a freshman.

Ley said her strong point is that she’s not afraid of the outcome.

“She’s not worried about going too hard,” Ley said. “She just goes after it and is secure enough that she finishes where she finishes.”

Ley said the Tides weren’t really happy with winning the district meet, considering their times could have been faster.

“Last year we had a great race at districts and a good race at state,” Ley said. “Let’s just have the good race here and a great race next week.”

Boys win district

The Gig Harbor boys had an equally successful performance at the district meet, capturing their second championship in three years.

Tides senior Conner Peloquin finished second behind Central Kitsap’s Shane Moskowitz in 15:39.2. Peloquin said he was happy to finish second without having to go all-out.

“I wanted to tone it down more in this meet,” Peloquin said. “We feel like we’re in a great place heading into state.”

Spencer Payne also finished in the top 10 (16:12.4) as the Tides placed five in the top 25 (Casey Peloquin 18th, 16:36.5; Luke Hoffman 24th, 16:41.7 and Joe Gagliano 25th, 16:42.0).

With a young group of varsity runners, Ley said the boys ran with maturity.

“We’re telling them they ran like seniors, and that’s OK,” she said. “It was a big lift for them. It’ll give them a ton of confidence heading into state.”