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  Nathanael
Lives to Race Another Day
The SPU Cross Country team had only
two races in October, and for Nathanael, they were
mirror opposites. His race in Salem, Oregon on
October 1st was nothing to write home about. Which
is to say, we followed him to Oregon and watched the
race. He had not raced when his team had gone to
Yakima in September because he was taking Marine
Biology in the San Juan islands. And he was
held out of the Sundodger race in Seattle because he
hadn't practiced with the team. But he was allowed
to join the top ten at the Charles Bowles Invitational
at Willamette University.
Alas, he had a difficult start and
never regained contact and placed 10th and last on the
team. The team, however, moved from 16th to 6th
over the previous year (where Nathanael had placed 3rd
for the team). The good news was that Nate's time
was good enough to stay on the varsity for what might
prove to be his final race. The top ten would race
at the GNAC Championships in Yakima for Nate's fourth
and final year.
 On
the Apple Ridge Run course in the apple orchards
northwest of Yakima on October 22nd, Nate was in 8th
place on the SPU team through the first few kilometers
of the
8K league championship race. If the team
placed 5th or better, they'd been promised a trip to the
NCAA West
 Regionals
in Spokane on November 5th, but only the top seven
runners would advance to race there. As the race
progressed, Nate closed the gap on his teammates, and
front runner freshman Jordan Wolfe tightened up and
began to fall back. Last year's number one runner,
5th year senior
Jacob "Wally" Wahlenmaier, also had trouble and
Nathanael caught both of them in the second half of the
race. He finished 5th on the team, a far cry from
his 10th (27:34.16) at the start of the month. His
time of 27:08 was only nine seconds off his 2010 team
second place finish in Yakima with a 26:59 time.
Because of the
injuries to Jordan and Wally, the team only managed a
6th place finish, but on returning to campus they
learned that an exception had been made to the SPU
policy, and the men would join the SPU women (who had
taken 5th) and both teams would race one more time in
Spokane on November 5th. Nathanael had made the
top seven just in time to qualify for the second year in
a row for the NCAA Division II West Regionals.
Last year they
ran in the snow at
Regionals in Bellingham. And the Regional race
is the longer 10K distance where Nathanael has done
especially well in the past. Nancy and I will
drive to Cheney on Friday the 4th and cheer Nate on in
the final race of his Cross Country career on the 5th.
Road Trip!
Since Dallas, Oregon, is
just west of Salem, Nancy and I took up the
standing offer to stay with Bob and Kim Disher
when we went down to watch Nate run on October
1st.
We arrived late on Friday,
and Bob went with us to try his Nikon on Cross
Country. After the race we joined Kim
where she and friends were scrapbooking and then
Bob directed us to Silver Falls State Park.
Later, I took the four of us
out to a Mexican restaurant in Dallas, and on
Sunday we worshiped at their church. Nancy
drove most of the long trip home.
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A Rare Date Funded by
Annie
Annie had left us with a "Living
Social" coupon for $35 to use at the Wilde Rover Irish
Pub in Kirkland. We managed to use it on the day
it was due.
 I
had a great steak and Nancy had chowder and corned beef.
She loved it. And I enjoyed my first (but not my
last) Newcastle Brown Ale (imported from England).
Nancy loosened up after a bit and even began watching
some of the soccer on the big screen.
I don't recall if I've ever been to
a pub or tavern with Nancy. The Wilde Rover made
every attempt to be an authentic Irish Pub and seemed a
rustic cross between a restaurant and a sports bar.
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(1st) New Zealand 8 (2nd) France 7
(3rd) Australia 21
Wales 18
In honor of Dr. Ross Stewart, our
resident Kiwi in the business school, I stayed up late
on a few nights this month to get a crash course in
Rugby. I watched Wales lose to France 8-9 in
one semi-final and saw host team New Zealand defeat
arch-rival Australia
20-6. I watched the the consolation finals in the
wee hours and then NBC aired the finals in prime-time.
I admit that I peeked at the score on the Internet with
a few minutes remaining because I was rooting for the
New Zealand "All Blacks" over France. Rugby is a
national mania in New Zealand. I greatly enjoyed
my foray into this wild sport. But life is too
short to make it more than a once in every four year
habit for me.
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BCS XC
in 2011: Daniel Nortz
The BCS varsity girls ended
the season with only five runners and three of
them seniors. They fell to 11th place in
their final race at Tri-Districts. Only
senior Bree Oldham qualified for State.
On the guys side, the result
was similar with but one bright spot. The
boys finished 10th in their final race, but
after winning the Emerald City League individual
championship for the second year in a row,
junior Daniel Nortz took the bronze medal at
Tri-Districts and will represent the Vikings at
Pasco.
It's the first time since
2001 that no BCS team will run at State ― and a
good time for me to be going to Spokane instead
of Pasco. The girls will have to rebuild
their team. The BCS boys have a young team
and can return to State if they are willing to
put in the effort.
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 It
was the Best Game Ever
The double in the 7th and
home run in the 11th by World Series MVP David
Freese was only part of why the 6th game of the
2011 World Series was the "best game ever."
The errors by both teams early
in the contest disqualify it as the "best game
ever PLAYED." But for drama and shear
baseball magic, this was the ultimate game. The
Cardinals rallied five times from deficits,
including the fateful 11th inning solo walk-off
homer.
I am not a big baseball fan.
But when my Mariners win, I'm happier. And
in this series I was actually rooting for Texas.
But I recognize that the St. Louis Cardinals
made history in game six that will be talked
about as long as the game of baseball is played.
The Cardinals won game seven
6-2 over Texas, but it was the amazing,
improbable 10-9 St. Louis win in game six that
was supernatural. Look it up.
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 October's
Taproot Play was Smashing!
I'd seen the movie version of Oscar
Wilde's An Ideal Husband and loved it. Knowing the
plot, I didn't think I'd enjoy the stage version as
well. But, again, Taproot Theatre proved me wrong.
A "good" husband with a dark secret
in his past and a loving but rigid and unforgiving (at
first) wife touched a nerve with me.
We enjoyed using Annie's last set of
tickets for this final show in the 2010-11 theatre
season.
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Bits and Pieces
 We
had a serious policy disagreement with Student Financial
Services over Nathanael's financial aid scholarships.
They had failed to take into account his summer course
work and were about to withhold his scholarships.
In finishing our Federal Income Taxes, Nancy discovered
the problem and we went to bat for Nathanael. We
had about two weeks of anxiety (and anger), but like
with Annie in 2005, the error on SPU's part has been
rectified.
Looking
ahead to wrestling
season at BCS, I've committed to just photograph
home matches. It's a change that is
probably two years overdue. I still enjoy
shooting wrestling, which explains yet another
lens I got off eBay for a $100 winning bid ―
this Nikon AF Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D "Streetsweeper,"
discontinued by Nikon in 2003. We'll see
if it will replace my 18-105mm VR for wrestling.
My office got got a solar tube on October 31st.
It's about 2' x 2' and when the sun shines it's
wonderful.
The house is as
cluttered as ever. We have had no free
time to begin attacking the accumulated Sleight
family pile.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
― Proverbs 13:12 NAS
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