Amy-Eloise Neale of Glacier Peak blasted the old course record of 18:20 at the Hole In the Wall Invitational by running 17:51. Katie Bianchini of Glacier Peak was 2nd in 18:26 & Lucy Cheadle of Roosevelt was 3rd (18:38). Conner Ballew of Archbishop Murphy won the boys’ race in 15:55, while Jeff Bastian (16:08) & Sean White (16:10) of Glacier Peak took 2nd & 3rd. The Glacier Peak girls won the team title with 35 points & Corvallis took the boys’ team title with 107 points.

The Alaska State championships were held at Bartlett Saturday on a course that as muddy at times. The boys ‘ race came out pretty much according to the form chart with Silas Talbot of Service winning the 4A title with a time of 16:02. Well behind him followed James Leder of West Valley (16:28), Jani Lane of Service (16:31), Sage Thibadeau of Juneau-Douglas (16:32) & Kyle Hanson of Lathrop (16:35). The Service guys also won as expected easily handling West Valley 39 to 79, while Kodiak edged Juneau for 3rd 85 – 89. The girls’ race, however, was full of suspense & down-right weirdness. Jenette Northey of Service led most of the way but was caught at the very end by Jami Bethea of Kodiak. According to normal XC rules Northey still would have won due to her lean, which allowed her torso to cross the line first but Bethea‘s foot reached the line first which tripped the computer, so she was awarded the title. READ MORE>>>

NFHS survey surpasses 7.6 million for 2009-10; outdoor track and field reports largest participatory gain; #1 sport for girls and #2 for boys based on total numbers  - INDIANAPOLIS - Participation in high school sports increased for the 21st consecutive school year in 2009-10, eclipsing the 7.6 million mark for the first time. Based on figures from the 50 state high school athletic/activity associations, plus the District of Columbia, that are members of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), participation for the 2009-10 school year reached a record-breaking total of 7,628,377 participants, according to the 2009-10 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted and recently released by the NFHS.

There were not as many meets in the northwest with the concentration being in a select few invitational meets but there was much worthy of note during the course of the past week.

Danner – NTN Pre-National The defending Foot Locker West Regional champion, Molly Grabill showed why she is so respected by leaving her competition (“same competition in every meet”) in California & heading to Oregon.