What a great first week of competition Newport XC!!!! Keep it up.

First, I want to congratulate the entire Newport XC team on a phenomenal improvement in team spirit and sportsmanship since last year. You've really stepped up in response to our request that every athlete be at every meet and we're really proud of you. Even athletes that were not eligible to compete this week were there to support their team. Those of your who could not attend due to serious schedule conflicts let us know in advance, and the few of you who had to miss due to unexpected circumstances contacted us right away. That level of involvement and teamwork is one of the most important things for me to see as a coach and I KNOW you can keep it up throughout the rest of the season. GREAT WORK TEAM!

RACING NEWS!
Newport athletes showed other local schools how hard they worked this summer with some truly fantastic races.

Jamboree! I love the Jamboree because it gives the younger kids a great chance to start the season on a shorter course and go up against kids their own age. Plus we had beautiful weather for racing!
Unfortunately, the Jamboree Results fax didn't make it's way to Newport in tact on Friday, so we're still waiting for complete results. But they'll be online at http://www.newportxc.com/results shortly after we get them so that you can see how you stack up against all the other Kingco kids in your grade.
FRESHMEN BOYS: Led by Neil Walton the freshmen boys showed that Newport is going to be a serious force to be reckoned with for the next few years. The wave of Red and Gold crossing that finish line was quite a site. Kenny Tolburt received special recognition from the coaching staff at practice on Thursday for running a really smart race and passing LOTS of guys over the last mile.
SOPHOMORE BOYS: Led by Sam Staples the sophomore boys showed that they are going to make a huge contribution this year.
JUNIOR BOYS: Neil Baunsgard - particular scary with black face paint left over from spirt week's "black out day" led the juniors.
SENIOR BOYS: Alex Poplawski and Jacob Dance ran close together the whole race and had great finished to lead the senior boys.

FRESHMEN GIRLS: Byranna Woo showed tons of promise to lead the freshmen girls who all surprised themselves to see just how fast they are! SOPHOMORE GIRLS: Emily Albrecht won the sophomore girls race and ran the fastest time of the day in the first XC race of her life! Our sophomore girls have tremendous depth and ran great races.
JUNIOR GIRLS: Jillian Altizer won the junior girls race with the second fastest time of the day. She was followed by an awesome pack of red and gold.
SENIOR GIRLS: Natty Plunkett won the senior girls race with the fourth fastest time of the day. Another senior, Nicole Marshalek received special recognition from the coaching staff at practice on Thursday because she really inspired us by showing AMAZING improvement since last year. Her hard work is really paying off - what an example she's setting.

Edmonds!!!
The Newport Girls won their first invitational with a total team time that was 39 seconds faster than the #2 team. That #2 team, Snohomish, is one of the best 4A schools in the STATE!
The Newport Boys placed 8th and when their results were combined with the girls, our program was 4th OVERALL!!!

Here are the details:

Varsity results and complete girls results are up on the team website. Complete boys results will be there soon. Keep in mind that this race was about 1/4 mile longer than Thursday's Jamboree when you look at your time.
- The Edmonds Invitations started with a great Open Race. We had a huge group representing Newport making the starting line a really cool sight. Michael Hutchins and Danielle Seymour led the group with excellent races. Our boys really showed the depth of the team as the JV group all finished within a few seconds of one another. Freshman Maya Graue cracked into the girl's top 14 with a great race.
VARSITY ALTERNATES RACE:
- Next Hannah Neibulski, Rachel Wirtz and Taryn Blache represented Newport in the varsity alternates race and showed the depth of our team by running really well.
- Neil Walton was the first freshman finisher in the boys varsity alternates race, he was followed by Ryan Steel and Steven Soroka who ran very well.
6/7 RACE:
- Katrina England and Emily Meyer finished 2nd and 3rd in their race. Emily was the fastest #7 runner of the day.
- Alex Bell and Brian Li ran well and Alex got an award as one of the fastest #6 runners of the day.
4/5 RACE:
- Emily Albrecht won her race with the 6th fastest time of the entire day and Christine Dollard came in third running a really solid race.
- Andrew Coover received recognition as one of the fastest #4s of the day and Sam Staples was one of the top #5s.
2/3 RACE
- Jillian Altizer and Jillian Raftery finished 4th and 6th in their flight and played a big part in keeping the team time as fast as possible.
- Neil Baunsgard and Jacob Dance finished 9th and 11th in their flight and Neil got an award as one of the top finishers although he was impersonated by Rahul Brito at the awards ceremony.
#1 RACE:
- Natty Plunkett ran the fourth fastest time of the entire day and stayed very close to the leaders in her flight to ensure her team's victory.
- Alex Poplawski held his own in a flight that was led by several of the fastest guys in the entire state.