SJE relay team accepts Mt. Spokane challenge

A relay team of St. John girls competed under triple-digit heat in the relay race up Mt. Spokane Saturday. The relay race started at the Clock Tower at Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane and took teams out the Centennial Trail, through Green Bluff and eventually up the mountain. Total distance was approximately 34 miles.

Eagle Coach Andrea Miller said the team was made up of girls who plan to compete in the SJE cross country team next fall. The team has gathered for informal Sunday runs, and the decision to enter the race up the mountain sort of evolved from those sessions.

Coach Miller noted the challenge was a great way to get the runners training before the formal high school cross country season.

The race up the mountain requires an altitude climb of 3,992 feet. Downtown Spokane at the Clock Tower has an elevation of 1,875 and the summit of the mountain tops out at 5,867.

Coach Miller said the six team members selected relay stints which ranged from three miles to eight miles.

The three-mile segment features the toughest grade pull of the race up the mountain. The final segment up to the summit has a lesser grade.

Annie Bailey opted for the short distance up the toughest incline and ran the three-mile segment. Jordan Porubek ran the last four miles, which goes up switchbacks to the top of the mountain.

The race format required support crews to cheer a runner at the start of her segment, transport the team with the next runner to her assigned starting point and gather up the runner who just finished her respective stint.

The route went out the Centennial Trail toward the Gonzaga district and along Upriver Drive before departing the Spokane Valley and eventually going through the Green Bluff area on the approach to the mountain.

Coach Miller noted the scene at the finish was pretty informal, and SJE runners actually wound up with first place medals. They finished with a time of 5:07.7.

However, a printout of race results reported Gonzaga Prep girls topped the age class with a finish under five hours with a time of 4:57.28. The other team in the division was Mt. Spokane High which clocked 5:41.213.