SALT CREEK RECREATION AREA — Marina Roberts kept the family tradition alive at the Salt Creek Invitational on Saturday.
The Kingston junior dominated the varsity girls field to claim her family’s third straight victory at the 33rd annual event.
Afterward, she even took the time to high-five all of the other runners after they crossed the finish line.
Outside of the opening half mile of the three-mile run, it might have been the only time any of them actually saw her.
She was one of two Kingston varsity winners Saturday.
Buccaneer senior Nicholas Schippers took the boys race after passing Nathan Hale’s Ethan Davis in the final 150 yards.
Yet it was Marina who stole the show.
“A lot of people were like ‘Come on, get Ruby’s time,'” Marina said in reference to her sister, who won the past two Salt Creek girls races and now runs for Washington State.
“I don’t really know what it was actually. I know she was fast, so I had to just push it hard.”
Marina did that and then some without showing a glimpse of fatigue in finishing in 17 minutes, 31 seconds.
Not only was that better that any of her sister’s times at Salt Creek — Ruby’s best was 17:45 in 2007 — it was 32 seconds faster than the next closest runner (Marissa Hielkema of Lynden Christian).
“A lot of times I can hear them behind me,” Marina said. “I just feel like they are catching me. I think of it that way. I just try not to let people pass.”
Of course, nobody came close to doing that.
The battle for second between Hielkema and Port Angeles’ Alison Maxwell was much closer.
The Roughrider senior was in the second pack behind Roberts much of the race, eventually going ahead into second on the final lap.
Hielkema caught up to Maxwell on the final hill, then held her off the rest of the way to finish three second ahead in 18:13.
“I didn’t want to be out in front of all those other girls, but they weren’t going as fast as I felt like I needed to go, so I took second for most of it,” Maxwell said.
“That was something I never do. I always start out way behind and try to catch people, so that was different.
“I think it paid off. I was trying to break 19 today, and I definitely beat it, so that was very exciting.”
Added Port Angeles coach Pat Durr, “She is getting close to breaking that magic 18 in three miles. That’s in elite company.”
Maxwell was the top finisher for the host Riders.
Her mark helped Port Angeles take ninth out of 13 teams in the varsity girls race. Jamie Gladfelter was the other Rider to place in the top 50 (21:10).
Class 2A Interlake took the girls crown with 51 points, while 2A North Kitsap was second (87) and 2A Kingston third (97).
“I thought they did terrific,” Durr said of the girls.
“We’ve been training pretty hard . . . so I knew their times might be slower than normal. But the kids had one of the best races in a long time.”
BOYS RACE
The varsity boys race provided the most drama of the day.
Schippers spent most it behind Nathan Hale’s Davis and Bellevue’s Phillip Matthews.
After passing Matthews on the backstretch of the second lap, he slowly tracked down Davis before breaking out his kick with 150 yards to go.
Charging up that last small incline, Schippers surged ahead of Davis and crossed the finish line in 15:18. Davis was two seconds behind in 15:20.
“That was pretty much the plan from the start was hang and kick and see how it went,” Schippers said.
“[It was] a lot more strength running than I thought, but it worked out well. It felt good.”
Nick Shindler was the top Port Angeles runner for the boys, taking 43rd in 16:51.
Also in the top 50 was teammate Tavish Taylor (47th in 16:59). Tavish’s twin brother, Trevor, took 51st in 17:04.
The Rider boys were 12th out of 19 teams, with Bellevue first with 37 points, Central Valley second (68) and Interlake third (88).
“We graduated three seniors and [the current boys] are so much improved from last year,” Durr said.
“The clock never lies. If you’re working hard, it starts to pay off and they are starting to reap some of those rewards.”
Port Angeles was the lone North Olympic Peninsula school to compete in the varsity races.
Sequim and Port Townsend/Chimacum ran in the Three Course Challenge at Seaside, Ore.
