Prairie High School junior boys cross country runner Tavin Timperly took first place in a 3A Greater St. Helens League meet against Evergreen High School on Tuesday, Oct. 13, leading a dominant performance by the Falcons at Lewisville Regional Park.
Timperly crossed the finish line ahead of the field, followed by five more Prairie runners to fill the top six spots in the race. The performance showcased the depth of Prairie’s lineup as the team turns its attention toward the postseason.
With the final league meet in the books, Timperly said his focus has shifted to preparing for the state championship, where he hopes to contend for another podium finish.
“I'm definitely just more focused on state, because I know as a team we'll make it, because we're deep enough,” he said. “So, just push the next couple of weeks and make sure my training is dialed so I'm ready for state.”
The Falcons had already completed a mile run before the meet, making the race another opportunity to build fitness ahead of the championship portion of the season.
“Oh, it definitely hurt, but we were just using today as like a training run to kind of push through after the mile,” Timperly said.
As the postseason approaches, Timperly said his training will become more focused, with shorter weeks and faster workouts designed to prepare him both physically and mentally for state.
“Runs are faster than they would be usually,” he said of his preparation for the final leg of the season.
Timperly hopes to return to the podium at the state meet, where he plans to stay with the leading pack and see what opportunities develop later in the race.
“Hopefully the podium again. I'll just try to roll with the pack and see what I can do when it comes to the second mile,” he said.
While Timperly’s individual performance highlighted the meet, Prairie’s depth has also helped drive the team’s success. He credited the Falcons’ collective effort at practice for helping teammates improve throughout the season.
“Our energy is great at practice, and me running my workouts at my pace pulls everyone along, and everyone just gets faster together,” Timperly said. “So it's just all of us as a team just helping each other get better.”
The Falcons’ girls cross country team also filled the top-four finishing times in the girls race over Evergreen High School on Oct. 13.
The boys and girls squads for Prairie High School now look towards Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Kelso High School for the GSHL District 4 Championship ahead of the Saturday, Nov. 7 state championship race at Sun Willows Golf Course in the Tri-Cities.
