Portch competes at state cross country

Caden Portch competed at the state cross country meet at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco last Saturday, turning in his best time ever in the 5,000-meter race.

The sophomore Lake Roosevelt Raider completed the course in 18 minutes, 13.3 seconds, a time he fairly steadily whittled down all season from a high of 21:56.9 in Manson on Sept. 16. when he finished 21st.

Two weeks later, he took the top honors at Tonasket in 19:35.8, then trimmed his time to 18:58.0 in Omak a week later.

"He's a competitor," commented Raider Head Coach Matthew Timentwa.

A year ago, as a freshman, Portch had ended the season missing qualifying for the state meet by only about two places.

"That helped him figure out that, 'Hey, you know, I can be I can be a state runner,' Timentwa said. "And so, he put in ... some work over the summer, and you could tell."

After Omak, they'd set a goal for Portch to beat 18:30, Timentwa said, which seemed like a hump it took most of the season to get over.

But by the time Portch took ninth place at the Central Washington B League Championship and District 6 state qualifier Oct. 28 in Winthrop, he had his time down to 18:16.4.

At the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State Cross Country Championships Nov. 4, Portch finished the tough course in Pasco (all hills) in 18:13.3, his personal record.

Portch came in 39th among 164 of the state's best B school runners.

"It's a tough course, and so for him to run a faster time there was ... really impressive to me," Timentwa said, describing Portch as a "real special athlete" who cares about the whole team and is learning to be a leader.

Timentwa said he's proud of the whole cross-country team, all of whom set personal, or at least season records at the District 6 meet, which could be a good sign for 2024.