Warner Wins With Heart

2A cross country

Bill Warner didn’t tell his father beforehand, but he dedicated Thursday’s district cross country meet to him.

His father will figure it out, once he hears about the heart Warner showed at the end of the race.

Warner moved up from third place to first in the final one-third mile to claim the District 7-2A boys cross country title at water-logged Hangman Valley Golf Course.

The Riverside senior willed himself ahead of Chewelah’s Neil Small and Lakeside’s Mike Witt, whose head-to-head battle during the second half of the 3.1-mile race threatened to make Warner an afterthought.

Warner’s rally capped an emotional 17-day period that began when his father, Tom, received burns over 40 percent of his body.

The elder Warner was working on a diesel engine in his home shop when gasoline splashed a space heater and ignited a fire.

Warner, alone at the time, managed to throw off his engulfed clothes and phone a relative. He was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle within 3 hours.

Bill Warner raced the following day, winning a Great Northern League meet while his thoughts were 300 miles away.

“I knew he would have a fit if I didn’t run,” Warner said of his father.

Warner had defeated Small during a league-ending meet, so his attention Wednesday turned to GNL unbeaten Witt.

Witt led much of the way, with Small in pursuit. Warner made up ground in the final mile, especially on the last downhill.

When Small passed Witt on the bridge over Hangman Creek, Warner kicked into gear.

“I had a game strategy; Neil had nothing to do with it,” Warner said. “But when he passed Witt on the bridge, I knew I had to go with him.”

Warner’s strong kick resulted in a time of 17 minutes, 17.4 seconds. Small timed 17:20, Witt 17:24.

Witt earned a consolation when teammates Perry Welch and Shawn Close finished next. The top-ranked Eagles also placed Trevor Smith and Trevor Blackwell in the top 10, giving them 29 points and the lone berth to state. Riverside (68) was second.

The girls race, which took place during the day’s hardest rain, showed second-ranked Newport at its best while third-ranked Colville saw its shot at state slip away.

Newport sophomore Sarah Bell led by 2 seconds after the first mile and pulled away. She finished in 21:03.3, well ahead of Pullman freshman Carrie Hufaker’s 21:29.

“I tried to get surges out there to stay ahead,” said Bell, seventh at last year’s district. “It’s harder for me to catch up when somebody gets ahead.”

Newport totaled 48 points as its five scoring runners finished in the top 17. Riverside, led by third-place Nora Zaprzalka, earned the other state spot by scoring 69.

Colville, league co-champion with Riverside, took a blow when one of the prerace favorites, sophomore Crystal Evans, fell twice. Evans, second at district last year, placed 15th and missed state. The top 10 individuals qualified.

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