Olympia boys, girls run to state meet

PREP HIGHLIGHTS: Clare Kane (sixth place) and Nate Brennand (ninth) top individual finishers

The Olympian | • Published October 31, 2009

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Olympia junior Nate Brennand placed ninth after leading much of the boys race at the Class 4A West Central District III cross country championships, helping the Olympia boys place fourth in the team standings Saturday afternoon at American Lake.

The Olympia girls, led by Clare Kane’s sixth-place finish, placed sixth as a team and will also advance to Saturday’s state meet at Pasco.

Brennand broke into the lead early and led for the first mile and ran the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes and 9 seconds. Teammate Dusty Miller placed 21st.

“Nate ran great,” Olympia boys coach Jesse Stevick said. “It was exciting to see him out front.”

Stevick told Brennand to stay in contact with the leaders. He didn’t expect him to take the lead.

“The guys ran really well,” Stevick said. “We were hoping to beat Bellarmine to get the third team spot. But we’re happy to be going through to state.”

The top six teams and the top 30 individuals advance to state.

Kane, who finished in 19:02, missed four days of school last week because she was sick.

“She’s been sick all week. I knew she’d race, but we just didn’t know what to expect,” Olympia girls coach Cris Violette said. “She missed four days. She came to school Friday.”

Monica Madrigal, Olympia’s No. 2 runner all season, fainted on the course but still finished. She was Olympia’s seventh finisher.

“I guess she passed out at two mile mark,” Violette said. “But she finished. She’s doing fine. The other girls picked up the slack.”

Olympia finished with 202 points, 15 more than seventh placed Jefferson.

“I’m proud of the girls. We’ve come a long ways since our first time trials to start the season,” Violette said. “All the hard work paid off.”

It’s the second straight year Olympia girls advanced as a team.

In the 3A race, the Capital girls finished sixth with 158 points. North Kitsap won the team title with 93 points. The Capital boys finished 13th out of 16 teams with 282 points.

GIRLS SOCCER

Olympia 5, Wilson 0: The Bears remain alive in the Narrows League tournament after their shutout win over the Rams in a loser-out game at Mount Tahoma High School.

Lexi Fesenbeck (two goals), Sammi Thompson, Deidra Woodward and Anja Grover all scored for the Bears. Aspen Riley and Meghan Hebener recorded the shutout in goal.

After Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Stadium at home, Olympia needed to beat Wilson to keep its district tournament hopes alive. The Bears will face Central Kitsap on Monday night at Mount Tahoma High School in another Narrows League tournament game.

Central Kitsap defeated Shelton, 2-0, in another loser-out game. The winner of the Central Kitsap-Olympia game will earn the league’s No. 5 seed into the district tournament, and the loser it out.

Capital 9, North Thurston 0: Capital picked up its seventh shutout and the Cougars improved to 6-0 to win the Western Cascade Conference championship.

Capital gave up only one goal in league play and it came off a penalty kick.

Capital’s goalkeepers Riley Kirchmeier and Lindsey Corn combined for the shutout. Alyssa Edenstrom, Lauren Switzer and Kari Flaatrud scored two goals each. Sydnee Dieckman, Courtney Jackson and Lena Moreno scored one goal apiece.

After a 3-3 start, Capital improved to 12-4.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Heffernan’s wins pace Bears: Clara Heffernan won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle, helping Olympia swim team place seventh at the 24-team, 4A district meet.

Olympia qualified two relays and four individuals for state.

Heffernan won the 200 freestyle in 1:55.7 and the 500 freestyle in 5:09.6. She won the 500 by nine seconds.

“All and all it was a very good day,” Olympia coach Mel Smith said. “Clara won the 500 going away.”

Olympia’s 200 medley relay placed fourth and its 400 freestyle placed sixth.

The medley relay consists of Miranda Early, Kathryn Culhane, Kelsey Forbord and Heffernan. The 400 freestyle is made up of Early, Forbord, Chelsea Norman and Heffernan.

Forbord and Early also qualified for state in the backstroke. Culhane is going in the 100 breaststroke.