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Looking at his competitors’ times prior to the annual Capital Invitational cross country meet, Temple, a Capital High School senior, figured he’d come in ninth place.
But in a star-studded field of senior boys that included some of the state’s top 4A and 3A runners, Temple’s offseason training and home-course advantage propelled him to a third-place finish with a time of 12 minutes, 16.84 seconds on the 2.33-mile course.
Temple finished behind senior boys winner Korey Krotzer of Auburn Riverside (11:58.57), who was a fourth-place finisher at last year’s 4A cross country state championship in Pasco and also won last year’s Capital Invite junior boys race, and Peninsula’s Curtis King (12:04.32), an eighth-place finisher at last year’s 3A state meet.
“I guess I trained enough this summer,” Temple said. “There are a lot of good runners here.”
Temple increased his miles-per-week an average of 45 to 50 with the exception of an 80-mile week at a summer cross country camp.
He pulled out in front of the pack to begin the race, instead of starting at the back and gaining speed. He also paced off fellow senior and friend Lucas Graham of Northwest Christian, a fifth-place finisher at last year’s 2B state meet who finished fourth Saturday in 12:33.10.
The format for the invitational is divided into classes and matches up freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors in four races for both boys and girls.
Saturday’s event was held during the hottest recorded day at the Capital Invitational since the meet began in 1996. The heat took its effect on runners as the afternoon wore on, and the temperature hit 83 degrees at 1 p.m. for the final two races of the afternoon – the senior boys and senior girls.
Following the senior boys race, Gig Harbor’s Gabriel Sylvanus suffered apparent heat stroke after crossing the finish line (20:59.31, 80th) and was transported via ambulance to Capital Medical Center. It was the first time a runner had been taken to the hospital by ambulance in the 15-year event’s history, race director and Capital boys coach Jerry Miller said.
Some 900-plus athletes from 26 schools were on hand, but no race was larger than the meet-record 108 entrants in the sophomore girls race. A pair of South Sound girls finished in the top 5 – Olympia’s Sofia Kane (14:41.51, second) and North Thurston’s Hallie Whitley (15:24.43, fifth).
Kane stayed near the front of the pack from start to finish, but she couldn’t catch eventual winner Nicole Goecke of Prairie (14:36.31).
“I was really happy. I really didn’t know what to expect coming into it,” Kane said. “I wanted to give it all I had. I didn’t have time goals, I just wanted to hang with the front as long as I could.”
Whitley vaulted into prominence for the Rams last season, when she won the freshman girls race at the Capital Invite – her first high school race. It was one of her seven first-place finishes in 2010 and she looks to make a bigger push in 2011 after a “pretty happy” performance Saturday.
“I trained a lot over the summer,” Whitley said. “I figured I would be in pretty good standing as long as I ran smart.”
The Capital girls had six runners place in the top 10, including three in the top five. Aviva Browning placed fourth in the senior girls race, running a 15:10.39 – 37 seconds behind winner Rachel Atwood of Auburn Riverside (14:33.35). In the girls junior race, Eliza Ramsey was fifth (15:48.54), and Lauren Pierson was fourth in the freshman girls race (15:39.05).
“I was really happy with my girls,” Capital girls coach Kevin Wright said. “They had three really tough workouts in a row. They came in a little tired but competed very well.”
Chehalis teammates Dallas Snider and Danny Robertson went 1-2 in the junior boys race, separated by slightly more than two-tenths of a second. Shelton’s Cody Williamson (12:33.30) won the sophomore boys race.
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473
mwochnick@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/southsoundsports
