Season highlights
• Finished sixth at Class 4A state meet.
• Won district and bi-district championships.
• Won four consecutive Class 4A district titles.
• Finished high school career with only one loss in a league meet. (See embarrassing moment)
• Qualified for and competed in Nike Border Clash.
More about Priscilla
• Favorite movie: “The Karate Kid.” The original. “The new one is insulting,” she said with a laugh, noting that she has not seen the new one. Also, Disney flicks, especially “Pocahontas.”
• Disney nickname on cross country team: Tinker Bell.
• Most embarrassing moment: Losing only race in league after taking a wrong turn.
Next year and beyond
• Undecided, but plans to run for a Division I school.
• More: Timmons wrote us an e-mail, describing how much cross country has meant to her. Look for her e-mail on The Columbian’s high school sports blog.
“Running at Skyview has been the most exciting and fun experience of my life and I still can’t believe it’s over.”
Priscilla Timmons, on completing her high school cross country career with the Storm.
Rest of the All-Region team
• Nicole Goecke, fr., Prairie: 3A GSHL all-league first team; regional champion.
• Taylor Guenther, jr, Prairie: 3A GSHL runner of the year; district, regional runner-up.
• Megan Napier, jr., Camas: 3A GSHL all-league first team; fifth at regional.
• Sara Taferre, so., Skyview: 4A GSHL all-league first team; 4th fastest local at state meet.
• Nicole Tester, sr., Battle Ground: All-4A GSHL first team; placed third at district meet.
• Lindsay Tompkins, so., Prairie: 3A GSHL all-league first team; district champion
Skyview’s Timmons saves best for her last season
By Paul Valencia
Columbian staff writer
Another strong October and November for Priscilla Timmons in the girls cross country season did not just happen overnight. It was more like a culmination of years of hard work along with her desire to excel as a senior.
Timmons said she needed to have a stronger running base going into the season, so she dedicated herself to summer workouts. It was the only way to have the best season of her high school career.
“My summer training was super intense,” she said. “I was going 45, 50 miles a week. I was stronger than I ever had been. I knew it was going to be a good year. I knew I was ready.”
Timmons, the 2009 All-Region girls cross country runner of the year, followed up with another dominating performance in 2010. She won the district championship, then took home the bi-district title. At state, she was right up there until the end, finishing sixth. With those finishes, she is once again The Columbian’s runner of the year.
A year ago, she finished fourth at state.
This year, while the placing was down two spots, she was faster.
“I put myself in it to compete the best I could,” she said. “My goal was to compete for the win. I competed hard, and the effort was there. I’m definitely satisfied with that.”
She also qualified for the Nike Border Clash for the third year in a row.
“It’s probably the funnest race I’ve ever competed in,” she said. “It’s all just for fun, to compete against the best of Oregon and Washington, to see what you can do.”
Timmons will compete for Skyview track and field in the spring, but she is sad that high school cross country is done for her.
“It’s kind of weird to think that it’s over,” she said. “It’s been so great with (Ron) Heidenreich as coach. He makes everything so happy. He’s smiling all the time, so we call him Happy. Happy Heidenreich. He’s always encouraging.”
For all these years, the coach has been able to encourage one of the top athletes in the region.
This is it, though, at least for high school cross country. Priscilla Timmons certainly has left her mark in this region.
