Elma’s Roberts, Montesano’s Schweppe win titles at 1A Evergreen League Championships

Roberts battles through injury to win boys race; Schweppe leads Bulldogs to team title

By Ryan Sparks • October 25, 2024 6:30 pm
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma sophomore Frank Roberts (right) pulls away down the home stretch to win the boys varsity race at the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma sophomore Frank Roberts (right) pulls away down the home stretch to win the boys varsity race at the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

Elma’s Frank Roberts and Montesano’s Haley Schweppe won their respective races at the 1A Evergreen League championships on Thursday at the Oaksrige Golf Course in Elma.

Roberts ran a time of 16:01.45 to win the boys race, pulling away from Rochester’s Gunnar Morgan with a strong kick down the stretch for the victory.

While Roberts entered the race with the fastest time in the league, there were doubts as to how he’d perform in his first race back after suffering a right hip flexor injury that had him sidelined for two weeks.

“I had to take some time off and I didn’t know if I’d do this race or skip it and go straight to districts,” the Elma sophomore said.

Roberts stayed with the lead group of four through three-quarters of the race, testing his hip the entire way.

Realizing the flexor was functioning fine, Roberts outkicked Morgan and the rest of the field to win the race.

“My goal was to stick with top four guys for the first and second mile and then kick,” he said. “I was just trying to stick with the pack, make sure I was controlled and just wanted to see how I felt. During that third mile, I just decided to give it my all.”

Roberts, who placed eighth in the league-title race as a freshman last season, reflected on winning his first league championship.

“I think it’s good. I’m excited,” he said. “I’m very proud of it.”

In the girls race, Montesano standout sophomore Haley Schweppe performed as expected in cruising to her first league title with a time of 18:58.08.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano sophomore Haley Schweppe cruised to a victory in the girls varsity race at the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano sophomore Haley Schweppe cruised to a victory in the girls varsity race at the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

“Today, I was mostly focused on being better than I was last year,” said Schweppe, who placed second to eventual state-champion Jane Roloff of Hoquiam last season before winning the district-title meet. “Last year, my race was good, but it wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be. So my goal this year was to be better and continue to help my teammates and compete the whole time.”

Her teammates followed suit, with senior older sister Samantha Schweppe placing second followed by Zoe Ray in third as Monte swept the top three spots en route to a repeat as team champions.

“I’m just really proud of everybody’s individual performances. I remain proud of all the girls on the team,” Sam Schweppe said after helping the Bulldogs to another league crown. “A lot of our girls have come a long way, so it means more that our team individually is doing well than us doing well as a team, to me, because I love to see that improvement and for us to come out and showcase how hard we work every single day.”

Next up for the league qualifiers is the 1A District 4 Champioships scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Zoe Ray (left), Haley Schweppe (middle) and Samantha Schweppe placed in the top three to lead Montesano to a team victory at the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Zoe Ray (left), Haley Schweppe (middle) and Samantha Schweppe placed in the top three to lead Montesano to a team victory at the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

Results

Boys

Team standings: 1, Rochester, 42. 2, Tenino, 47. 3, Elma, 60. 4, Montesano, 63.

Individual results (top 15): 1, Frank Roberts, Elma, 16:01.45. 2, Gunnar Morgan, Rochester, 16:05.17. 3, Benjamin Anderson, Montesano, 16:12.92. 4, Ryker Maxfield, Hoquiam, 16:24.16. 5, Tristan Von Bargen, Tenino, 17:21.16. 6, Carter Mounts, Tenino, 17:44.45. 7, Colton Sweet, Montesano, 17:53.44. 8, Peter Hilton, Tenino, 18:05.72. 9, Hunter Young, Rochester, 18:14.87. 10, Zeke James, Hoquiam, 18:25.08. 11, Taydee Evenstar, Rochester, 18:34.10. 12, Kian Christiansen, Rochester, 18:38.81. 13, Kole Boice, Elma, 18:39.08. 14, Haven Wunsch, Elma, 18:49.14. 15, Lodun Coombs, Rochester, 18:51.04.

Girls

Team results: 1, Montesano, 20. 2, Tenino, 52. 3, Elma, 58.

Individual results: 1, Haley Schweppe, Montesano, 18:58.08. 2, Samantha Schweppe, Montesano, 19:20.34. 3, Zoe Ray, Montesano, 20:17.71. 4, Brynn Williams, Tenino, 20:37.73. 5, Aiden “Phoebe” Bowe, Montesano, 21:20.71. 6, Mercedies Dupont, Rochester, 21:26.18. 7, Haley Huber, Tenino, 22:16.35. 8, Georgia Burkhart, Elma, 22:19.51. 9, Braelyn McGinn, Elma, 23:06.75. 10, Anna O’Conner, Montesano, 23:15.20. 11, Samantha Smith, Tenino, 23:26.29. 12, Alice Nelson, Montesano, 23:33.77. 13, Seraschel Aldrich, Rochester, 23:34.73. 14, Destiny Whipple, Elma, 23:38.95. 15, Emily Anderson, Montesano, 24:15.35.