Central junior Ty Cirino knew he had to resist the urge to blaze through the downhill start Saturday in The Mook Invite, a 24-team cross country meet at Alderbrook Golf Course in Tillamook.
“I definitely knew it was going to be a tricky race because that first mile is downhill and everyone wants to go super fast,” Cirino said. “I kind of just ran my own race.”
On the edge of the top 40 after the downhill start, Cirino worked his way up to near the top 10 after the first mile, then took over the race on the uphill portion. He finished first on the 5,000-meter course in 14 minutes, 43.2 seconds, breaking his PR of 15:02.2. It is the best time in the state this season.
“I knew I was going to be able to run fast,” Cirino said. “I just wanted to run under 15. I was able to run and execute it like I wanted to.”
Cirino had opened a 10-second gap in the second mile but the lead began to shrink when the course flattened out in the last 800 meters. He held off two Washington runners – Issaquah senior Connor Rickey (14:46.9) and Anacortes junior Dylan Rowell (14:48.2) – and Franklin senior Zafer Courcelle (14:50.4).
“I just wanted to close the race as hard as I could,” Cirino said. “I had enough in the tank to do that.”
Cirino has won all three of his races this season. He took The Opener on Aug. 25, running the 3,000-meter course at Ash Creek Preserve in 8:30.5, and won the Ash Creek Festival on Sept. 14, clocking 15:11.9 over 5,000 meters at Ash Creek Preserve.
Central coach Eli Cirino, his father, is encouraged by Ty's performances but also a bit wary.
“It's early still, and for him to run that fast early, it makes me a little nervous,” Eli said. “I feel like it puts a little bit of pressure on us because you want your best performances at the end of the season. But it's exciting. He's been on a pretty good progression since his freshman year. He's running with a lot of confidence.”
Ty is showing marked improvement over last season, when he finished fifth in the 5A championships. Saturday's time at The Mook Invite cut 33 seconds off his performance there last year, when he placed ninth.
He attributes much of the improvement to increasing his mileage and strength training during the summer. In late July, he posted the best time in the uphill 5K at Steens Mountain Running Camp.
“I feel way stronger, especially for the second half of the race,” Ty said. “Last year, I definitely had a lot of races where I would go out similar to the mile times I'm running now, and then I'd fall off. This year I've focused on going out strong, but I can feel the strength in that second half of the race. It definitely hurts, but I'm able to push.”
That increased strength shows in his ability climbing hills.
“It's a mindset,” Ty said. “Not looking at is as, 'Oh, this is going to kill me for the rest of the race.' It's like, 'OK, I'm going to have a downhill after this. It's going to be tough, but if I can pass guys on the hill, then I know it'll give me that extra boost for the rest of the race.'”
Ty had an excellent track season in the spring, setting school records in the 1,500 (3:54.87) and 3,000 (8:20.84). In the 5A championships, he placed second in the 1,500 and third in the 3,000.
“It was definitely a big jump from my sophomore cross country season,” he said. “I ran good in cross country, but I definitely wanted to get those track times down. It was kind of a big boost going into summer and the cross country season knowing that I was competing with those guys.”
He will get a big test Saturday at Nike Portland XC at Blue Lake Park in Fairview. He said he will take the same approach as he did at The Mook Invite.
“It's going to be a loaded race with a bunch of guys that I know are fast and are highly ranked,” Ty said. “I'll just kind of run my own race, not try to take it out too fast just to be in the front. That second half of the race, pretty much give it all I've got and see where it takes me.”
As he stacks up wins, his profile grows.
“A year ago it was fun to show up at these meets and feel like he was gunning for some guys,” Eli said of Ty. “Now I feel like he's got a little bit of a target on his back. But that's what he wants. He wants to be one of those guys.”
Add The Mook
Lakeridge senior Chloe Huyler won a showdown with Crescent Valley senior Emily Wisniewski in the girls race at The Mook Invite.
The Notre Dame-bound Huyler finished in 16:39.1 to beat Wisniewski (16:56.0), the three-time reigning 5A champion who has committed to North Carolina State. Huyler has won all three of her races this season.
North Salem junior Nelida Dalgas (17:04.0) and Lakeridge senior Hannah Huyler (17:15.3) were next.
Jesuit scored 82 points to edge Lakeridge (100) and Sehome, Wash. (112) to win the team race. The Crusaders were led by seniors Emma Bennett (fifth) and Maura O'Scannlain (ninth).
In the boys team scoring, Sehome was first with 110 points, followed by Issaquah (119), Jesuit (124) and Wells (152).
Northwest Classic
Summit swept the 6A/5A team races and had the No. 1 finishers at the Northwest Classic on Saturday on the state-meet course at Lane Community College in Eugene.
Summit's girls scored 36 points to beat Caldera (42) and South Eugene (115). Storm junior Sophie Capozzi (18:01.2) was the winner, finishing ahead of Caldera sophomore Maddie Carney (18:22.1) and La Salle Prep senior Maya Crimin (18:38.1).
Summit's boys scored 50 points to pull away from West Linn (100) and Sheldon (105). Summit senior Hayden Boaz (14:58.9) held off Sheldon junior Malachi Schoenherr (15:07.5) and Caldera junior Mason Morical (15:16.0) for first place.
East Linn Christian senior Daisy Lalonde won the 4A/3A/2A/1A girls race in 17:42.0, beating Valley Catholic senior Jaya Simmons (17:57.9) and Oregon Episcopal senior Lauren Tittel (18:38.5).
Cottage Grove senior Carter Bengtson was the winner in 4A/3A/2A/1A boys, recording 15:25.5 Oregon Episcopal junior Ronan Gantzos (15:38.7) and Marist Catholic senior Conor Thompson (16:03.4) were next.
In 4A/3A/2A/1A team scoring Klamath Union (104), Oregon Episcopal (109) and Philomath (119) were at the top in girls and The Dalles (112), Banks (132) and Cottage Grove (151) led the boys.
