Moses Lake XC discusses Hawaii trip
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake boys and girls cross country teams returned from their trip to Hawaii last week, running in the Iolani Cross Country Invitational in Hawaii’s Kualoa Ranch.
“The course was really hilly,” Head Coach Larry Dagnon said. “There were a lot of climbs, a lot of benches. Some longer downhills, but those downhills didn’t make up for the climbs.”
The Maverick girls placed fifth out of 15 teams and the boys placed eighth out of 16 teams.
“It was really cool to see what work they’ve put into it all these years,” Dagnon said.
The trip, which lasted from Sept. 7-11, returned for the Moses Lake cross country teams after years off due to the pandemic. Along with the cross country meet, the teams hiked at Diamond Head and Manoa Falls, and visited Pearl Harbor as sightseeing opportunities while in the U.S.'s 50th state. Some runners took the time to visit the beach and go snorkeling, and the team bonded together throughout the trip.
“My favorite part of the trip was probably just connecting more with the team,” senior Ethan LaBonte said. “All the stuff we did helped us grow closer together, but the downtime was really fun too.”
Camryn Holterhoff’s time of 20:54.17 was the fastest on the girls team, and LaBonte’s 17:22.07 was the fastest finish on the boys team.
“I just really enjoyed being able to experience such cool places and make some fun memories with the team, which I do consider family,” Holterhoff said. “It was awesome to just be able to hang out with each other 24/7.”
Following close behind Holterhoff’s 19th place overall finish in the girls varsity meet were Alexis Feller in 22nd (21:10.21), Ashlee Scheel in 34th (21:33.7), Rianne Nelson in 42nd (21:58.8), Sylvie Gephart in 47th (22:14.24), Marissa Bischoff in 59th (22:43.45) and Paige Perkins in 63rd (22:52.3). In all, 117 runners from 15 schools competed in the girl’s meet.
“You have to have confidence in yourself and in your body that you can keep pushing further than you ever thought you could,” Scheel said.
The Mavericks posted the shortest time gap between first and last runners during the girls meet, with an interval of one minute and 20 seconds.
“It was pretty amazing just because you’re sitting there with some of these great teams, and you’re not too far from them,” Dagnon said. “We definitely belonged there with them. It kind of gave our kids a little bit of a shot in the arm like, ‘Hey, you know what? Maybe great things are about to happen coming off this performance.’”
In the boys varsity meet, LaBonte took 30th overall followed by Sam Elliott in 37th (18:03.8), Angel Verduzco in 53rd (18:51.55), Carter Beus in 59th (18:58.65), Miguel Mendoza in 63rd (19:03.86), Jonathan Roueche in 65th (19:11.36) and Logan LaBonte in 68th (19:21.93). In the boys competition, there were 137 total runners from 16 schools.
“It’s mostly all mental,” Verduzco said of what he learned from the meet. “If you don’t have a mental (aspect) you’re not there.”
A significant impact made by the trip on the Maverick teams was the opportunity to grow with one another both as runners and as teammates.
“Just hanging out with the team no matter what we were doing,” Feller said of what she enjoyed most on the trip. “If we were racing, if we were hanging out on the beach – even just eating breakfast. This is such a good team, and I just love everyone.”
Along with the varsity competitions, a 5,000-meter open race was held for the boys and girls teams as well. Moses Lake had nine boys runners and seven girls runners compete in the open. Their times will be posted below.
Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.
Girls 5k Open Results
24th - Ambar Salas - 23:12.24
30th - Eowyn Hardebeck - 23:22.52
54th - Katelynn Lustig - 25:17.7
83rd - Janessa Phelps - 27:16.17
112th - Mady Morigeau - 30:54.64
115th - Natalie Bischoff - 31:18.1
116th - Jayden Nordstrom - 31:24.8
Boys 5k Open Results
26th - Anthony Longoria - 18:58.71
37th - Coleton Johnston - 19:35.36
38th - Tristan Seibel - 19:35.9
48th - Noah Bingham - 20:08.01
58th - Jaciel Valdez - 20:29.02
64th - Ian Allred - 20:47.57
66th - Jamisen Stuart - 20:49.78
81st - Carter Beus - 21:17.9
96th - Elliot Kincaid - 22:01.83
