Redmond senior Aiden Irish tamed the hilly 3.1-mile course at Seattle’s Lincoln Park during Thursday’s 4A Kingco League boys meet in a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 23 seconds, edging out teammate, Mack Young, who crossed the finish line in 15:29.
The Mustang duo ran 1-2 the whole race as Redmond finished second in the team standings with 60 points. Skyline won the Kingco title with 54 points.
The top 35 advance to the Kingco/Greater St. Helens Bi-District meet this Saturday, Nov. 1 at Lincoln Park.
The top four teams from the bi-district will go on to the state meet, located at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Nov. 8, and runners that place in the top 20 but don’t get a team invitation will get to participate as individuals.
“We were just 1-2 all the way down. When I got to the hill, I knew I didn’t have a great kick, so if I was going to win this race I’d have to open a gap there,” Irish said of his race plan. “I just started hammering it on the up hill, opened up a five-second gap and then just had to hold it for the next mile. I did everything I could to hang on.”
The Mustangs were able to repeat last year’s feat of placing both gold and silver at the league meet. Redmond actually went 1-2-3 last year with Anthony Ellis, who now runs for New Mexico State, finishing first, followed by Irish and Young.
“It feels great to come back and still be able to do the same thing again with all the competition, having Skyline and those guys in there,” Irish said. “I’ve had some good races, but nothing compared to what this race was timewise or placewise.”
Redmond head coach Denis Villeneuve was pleased to see his runners work hard on the grueling uphill portion of the course, which turned out to be the difference in the race.
“They followed their race plans perfectly — in the hills during the second mile, to push hard there,” Villeneuve said. “People don’t like to go hard on the hills, so I told them, ‘If you want to go 1-2, you have to work there and lose people.”
Sophomore Miles Hille, who Villeneuve said he would surprise people this season, finished sixth in 15:58.
REDMOND BOY FINISHERS
Aiden Irish: 1st place, 15:23
Mack Young: 2nd, 15:29
Miles Hille: 6th, 15:58
Alec Surynt: 23rd, 16:32
Tyler Dougherty: 28th, 16:38
Colin Neff: 32nd, 16:42
Will Young: 42th, 16:52
