Peloquin runs away with it

Gig Harbor runner wins boys race by nine seconds ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Conner Peloquin sees himself as a natural hill runner. At 5-foot-7 and 125 pounds — if he hasn’t eaten in a while — the Gig Harbor senior is built for whatever a three-mile course can throw at him.

On a cool and blustery Saturday afternoon at Franklin Park, Peloquin not only handled the challenging course he supremely handled the competition.

Peeling away from his pursuers in the middle mile, Peloquin entered the long grassy homestretch alongside the Yakima Valley Museum unchallenged and won the 36th annual Sunfair Invitational by nine seconds.

Gig Harbor’s Conner Peloquin cruises down the home stretch to win the boys’ elite flight on Saturday at Franklin Park. (Andy Sawyer/Yakima Herald-Republic)

“I wouldn’t say I had a specific plan to push the second mile but that’s where I made a move,” Peloquin said. “It’s not that the pace was slow, I just felt comfortable. I felt like I could push it and not pay for it later.”

After placing third here a year ago, and based on recent results, Peloquin was the pre-race favorite. And he enjoyed living up to that expectation.

“The number one goal was the win,” he said. “I knew there would be great competition and there was. It felt great to race at the front.”

That’s been common this season with Peloquin still unbeaten, including a big victory in Boise, Idaho, last week.

“It’s been awesome the way things have gone for me,” he added. “Last year at state I was a little sick and finished 13th when I should have been in the top five. This year I’ve done the work and it’s fun to do this well.”

While it was Peloquin’s day to shine individually, it was Jackson’s day as a team.

The Timberwolves, ranked ninth in the nation, won four consecutive flights and finished with 13 points, the lowest score in six years.

Auburn Riverside, led by Kenny Krotzer’s runner-up finish in the elite flight, was second with 34 points. Third through seventh place was separated by only 12 points.

Eisenhower turned in the Valley’s top three times with juniors German Silva (16:15) and Timothy Cummings (16:16) and senior Bryan Simison (16:27) in his season debut because of a foot injury.

Also in his first race of the season, Toppenish’s Ben Villanueva led a local trio of CWAC runners who fared well. Villanueva clocked 16:38 in the fifth flight and an hour later in the final race East Valley’s Mason Yates (16:40) and Ellensburg’s Jeffrey Ott (16:42) nearly matched it.