Our Royals Distance Athletes had a great opening meet this past weekend at the University of Washington High School Invitational. Running against some of the best athletes in the Pacific Northwest, many of our crew posted personal best performances, and others were running very close to what they were running at peak season last year.
Riley Simmonds, Sam May, and Mack Lascelle recorded massive personal best times in the 3000m of 9:12.25, 9:09.58, and 9:16.80. Sam May ran very strongly, and Mack ran the last half of this race with one shoe. Riley Simmonds’ performance for a grade 9 athlete was simply astounding. On the Women’s side, Zoe Unger recorded a big PR of 10:41.22 to cap off a fantastic opening night.
On Sunday, our ‘milers’ and 800m runners had some great performances as well. Will Van Schagen came up with a great opening run and PR of 2:03.90 in the 800m, and Adrianna Buitelaar ran a fantastic 5:05.67 in the mile (approximately 4:43 for 1500m). Maggie Epp also recorded a personal best performance in the mile of 5:12.22. Mark Molina ran a strong 800m of 1:58.12 to finish 6th in the Invitational Section, and Miles Graham ran a strong opener of 2:11.57. A great time was had by all!
Congratulations to all of our Royals – both parents and athletes, who represented us with distinction at one of the premier high school events in the Northwest. – Coach Scott