Anderson, Dressel take WA meet to new level

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

PASCO – At the end of the finish chute Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course, Tanner Anderson was flat on his back trying to recollect his legs and his breath.

John Dressel was on his feet and slipped under the flagging to go find a quieter place to contemplate his tactics and move on from a stinging loss.

Both of them – Spokane-area residents and national championship-caliber runners – had given everything in order to win the Class 3A individual race. Anderson's winning time of 14:32 is a mind-bending achievement on a 5,000 meter course with serious uphill sections. Dressel, whose body had not responded to his will over the final 200, finished in 14:48.

Everyone in attendance had high expectations for the showdown between the Foot Locker runner-up (Dressel) and the NXN third-place/WA defending champion (Anderson).

So those two tore off together and then just before the halfway point Dressel started sprinting. Uphill.

"It was the most incredible move I've ever seen anyone do or try to pursue," Anderson said.

Anderson knew that Dressel had been working on hills and he knew that he might choose a hill to stake his claim on the race.

But he didn't expect boldness like this. Already tired, Anderson felt like he was on the verge of being mentally broken and physically wiped out.

How close was Dressel's gambit to working?

"Ninety percent," Anderson said.

With 1,000 to go North Central coach Jon Knight – who was monitoring his team's bid for a record-tying ninth straight 3A championship – looked out from a vantage point over the golf course and thought Dressel had it.

"Tanner has a strong finish," Knight said.

Dressel was jogging over the course on Friday when he found the spot where he decided he was going to go. It was an earlier spot than he had imagined. He thought of trying to make his move at two miles. But this new spot might catch Anderson off guard and it might be the perfect place to land a haymaker.

"I felt it was a spot I could break people," Dressel said. "That last three weeks I've thought about this race, and when I was on the course review I thought, 'Why not here?'"

Dressel knew it was ambitious and he knew that by pouring so much of his energy into the middle of the race – on a particular section where most athletes are content to conserve – he was taking a huge risk.

But taking such shots and learning about their consequences is part of learning the art of racing.

"(Tanner) looked surprised and I just took it," Dressel said. "I think we went through the two-mile in 9:20. That's the fastest I've ever run two miles in a cross country meet."

But eventually, Dressel could feel his arms tighten. And in his mind, he tried to stay light as the world began to feel heavy.

"(The move) had its downfalls toward the end, but also, when you're racing guys like Tanner, or racing Matthew Maton or Grant Fisher, you have to make a move that's going to wear them out," Dressel said.

Picking that spot and having enough to complete the task is the name of the game.

Anderson kept in contact just long enough to witness Dressel begin to tire and then found the last strand of courage to go after him again.

Anderson would never have chosen to work that hard on those hills in the middle of the race, but that pace is what brought about a finish time like 14:32.

And Dressel-Anderson 2014 might go into Washington running annals as the best expression of distance running since Gerry Lindgren took on the Russians in the 1960s.

"I think we bring out the best in each other," Dressel said of his cross-town rival. "If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have run the way he did today. And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have ran the way that I ran."