Tough course, tough opponents; a tie-breaker falls to Bishop Blanchet.

LOWER WOODLAND FIELD, SEATTLE — On a hard course with a tough field, the Bainbridge boys and girls cross country teams had their work cut out for them.

The girls tied with Bishop Blanchet with 60 points apiece, but with the tiebreaker based on the finish of their sixth runner, the girls placed third.

Holy Names finished first with 43 points.

Caroline Johnson was the top finisher for the Spartan girls, placing second overall behind the first place runner and her rival, Holy Names’ Chelsea Burns with a time of 19:28. Emily Farrar was third overall with a time of 20:04, while Hillary Pritchett was third for Bainbridge and ninth overall with a time of 20:41.

“That was our big goal to knock off Holy Names,” said a disappointed Johnson afterwards. “We just didn’t get it (done) this year.”

Farrar, in her first year in cross country, said the course was a rugged one.

“This is a hard, hard course,” she said. “The hills up in here are really, really, difficult. But at the same time, you’ve got the whole downhill. It’s a tough course, but I like it. It’s a good one.”

She also said trying to keep pace with Burns was a challenge.

“Holy Names came to run,” she said. “They were so good. Chelsea Burns is amazing. She just kicks in the left turn (in the last third of the course) and she’s just gone.”

Head coach Dean Tarbill was gracious in defeat.

“I think we were beaten by a better team,” he said. “They’re a well-coached team, and what I’ve seen and what I’ve observed with the times and what they’ve done, I think they deserve it. My hat’s off to the program and their coach. It just illustrates the vibrancy of their program.”

He was also upbeat about the girls’ performance, calling the loss a “temporary setback.”

“Caroline ran a really valiant race,” he said. “She took it to Chelsea. Plus, we’ve had some girls that were out for a few weeks with injuries, and they came back and proved themselves, and I’m really proud of them.

“We’ve got to refocus, and examine what’s at stake,” he continued. “We’re going to go back and calculate and still work and refine. We’ve got two weeks (until districts), but State is our ultimate destination.”

Emilie VanVleet was 19th with a time of 21:04, while Molly O’Keefe was 27th with a time of 21:34 to round out the scoring.

On the boys’ side, they finished fifth with a score of 120. Bevan Taylor and Joel Turkheimer were the top two finishers for the Spartans as they placed seventh and ninth overall with times of 16:36 and 16:49, respectively.

Seattle Prep was first overall, with Panther runner Max O’Donohugh-McDonald blazing the field with a time of 15:40.

“We were really impressed. They really stepped up,” Tarbill said. “We figured that if we could get two of our runners, Joel and Bevan, in the top ten then we would really be doing well.

“We told the kids ‘we don’t want you to go out and waste your energy (keeping pace with O’Donohugh-McDonald),” he continued. “You want to stay in that group and stay up with the two Blanchet kids (Jeremy Swenson and Sean Morris). They really did.”

“That’s what I was hoping for was the top ten,” Taylor said. “It’s a strong finish for us and it’s looking to be a bright future as well.”

Max Welch was 30th with a time of 17:53, followed by Ian Shiach 33rd with17:58 and Alex Oeschli 41st with 18:34 to round out the scoring.

Both teams will move on to the Sea-King 3A District meet at Lake Sammamish Park in Issaquah.