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closeGig Harbor girls fourth, boys ninth
Marques Hunter
of the Gateway
PASCO — The Gig Harbor Tides’ emotions rode high during the Class 4A state cross country championships on Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course.
But there was more on the runners’ minds than the race. They knew it was the final event with head coach Patty Ley.
Ley, who has been with the Tides’ distance running program for 20 years — 10 as the cross country head coach — has accepted a job offer to coach cross country at Christopher Newport University in Newport, Va. She led Gig Harbor to three state championships and three runner-up finishes.
Tides assistant coach Rich Frazier will take over the Gig Harbor head coaching job starting next fall.
On Saturday, the Tides girls finished fourth as a team and the boys were ninth.
“It just makes the state experience that much more emotional, knowing it’s her last race coaching us,” said Tides senior Erin Hull, who placed 14th overall in 18 minutes, 59 seconds, her best career-best state time.
The Tides won three consecutive girls state championships from 2005-07 and were second last year. But the girls’ shot at winning a state championship the same year of Ley’s departure didn’t fit a storybook ending.
Twelve points separated the Tides from second place. Eastlake won its second straight championship with 100 points.
Ley said the Gig Harbor girls’ expectations were high.
“And just a few years ago, they were jumping up and down,” Ley said. “Now it feels like the worst thing in the world.”
Gig Harbor junior Maureen Tremblay, who won the West Central District cross country meet the week prior, kept the Tides’ hopes of winning another title alive by placing sixth overall in 18:44.
And while Tides junior Brittany Kealy (23rd, 19:10) kept the team’s top three runners inside the top 25, 46 slots separated Gig Harbor’s next finisher, making the gap too wide for a championship run.
“You kind of figure a couple kids to have great races, a couple kids have average races, but the odds are, some are going to have sub-par races,” Ley said. “We hit it right down the middle.”
Current girls team members hadn’t experienced anything less than a runner-up finish at state. Kealy said they were disappointed because they felt they could’ve done better.
“But we’re all proud of each other, and we’ve come to the consensus that we left it out (there) and worked for each other,” Kealy said. “Everything about it is just so hard. We wanted to win it for each other, and for her (Ley).”
The Gig Harbor girls will lose both Hull and Cara Saxon to graduation.
GH place ninth
The Gig Harbor boys finished ninth as a team with 201 points Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course.
Tides senior Conner Peloquin had his best performance at the championship race, placing second behind Central Kitsap’s Shane Moskowitz, who won the individual title in 15:06.
Peloquin stayed with Moskowitz until just before the 1-mile mark before Moskowitz kicked it into another gear.
“Right before the mile, Shane put down a huge surge,” Peloquin said. “I kind of went with it, and then he pulled away. I didn’t think it was going to last the entire race. I thought he was going to come back eventually, but he really didn’t.”
Peloquin’s time of 15:22 was 33 seconds faster than his previous state best.
“I’m disappointed because I wanted to win,” Peloquin said. “But if any guy is going to beat me, I’d want it to be Shane. He’s a great competitor and a good friend.”
Gig Harbor senior Spencer Payne ran a lifetime-best 16:11 to finish 36th. It was a state meet improvement of 29 seconds and the third meet in a row where he’s shaved time off his personal best.
“We all battled,” Payne said. “Our goal was to run well as a team.”
After Payne crossed the finish line, the Tides waited 36 positions before their No. 3 runner — sophomore Casey Peloquin (72nd, 16:43) — motored down the final stretch.