Authored by: Paula Murray & Joy Chan

Event Date/Location: November 24, 2024, Chambers Creek Regional Park, University Place, WA

Just prior to the start of the Thanksgiving Holiday, the LSRC teams got a chance to preview the course to be used for the USATF National Club XC Championships at the USATF NW Region XC Championships. The meet saw participation from over a dozen clubs across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Alaska.

A world-renowned golf course sitting on a cliff overlooking Puget Sound, Chambers Bay is a great place to view the action. A mostly flat grass course with just two of the gentlest rolling hills, this was surely a PR course under good conditions. Alas, it was not one of those days. Puget Sound was a dull bluish grey – matching the overcast skies above – and the grass shimmered not from sunlight but from the sogginess left by the week’s two storms.

The women’s race was three laps on the grass, and the men’s race was four. One challenge was the mud, and the fact that Junior NW Regionals were run on this same course the day before, left it a bit chewed up and worse for the wear. Although the rain showers held off until the very end, it was a slippery day, and our runners had their work cut out for them, which showed in slower times for almost everyone. Fortunately, all LSRC runners stayed upright despite the conditions and chilly, wet feet.

While we had five women on the start line, only four were able to finish with one runner dropping out due to injury early in the race. The women’s team was unable to score without all five runners, but each finisher ran admirable times on difficult terrain. The men’s team was also slower overall on the muddy course but ran well enough to place 12th out of 15 teams and fielding 7 finishers!

Regionals was an excellent opportunity for the LSRC teams to experience the course on a less-than-ideal day, allowing us to assess our readiness for all possible conditions while also getting a small taste of the competition to come at Nationals in just under two weeks. Like the weather in mid-December, the culmination of our season may be hard to predict, but don’t count out the LSRC teams – we may surprise you yet. LET’S GO BLUE!

Full Results: https://pntfo.trackscoreboard.com/meets/11242024/events

Women, 6K	Time	Highlights
Taryn Hynek	28:26	First XC race in years, great frontrunning
Maricruz Del Pozo	29:54	Great teamwork with Rochelle!
Rochelle Cox	29:57	Great teamwork with Mari!
Joy Chan	31:38	Way to power to the finish
Men, 8K
Clayton Koppi	29:09	Fast first lap, great frontrunning
Zach Fung	29:22	Had a consistently paced race
Paul Young	32:44	Nice job on a difficult course; recovering from a cold
Mike Williamson	35:14	Only 1 sec per lap slower than Lincoln Park
Matthew Wines	36:21	First XC race with the team!
Victor Wang	37:03	First XC race ever!
Daniel Bannon	37:08	First XC race ever!

No need for a cooldown - already a cold enough day.

The LSRC women aren't afraid of mud!

Check out more photos here!