Chandler hangs in

The conclusion of Mitch Chandler’s run to the District 7 2A cross country championship Friday said it all.

Totally spent, the Riverside senior pitched forward into the turf as he finished the race and collapsed again shortly after being hauled to his feet and walked through the chute.

He was still walking shakily long after the race had been completed.

“I didn’t think (Justin) Rose was going to go after it like that,” said Chandler. “He’s a senior and wanted it. So am I, and whoever goes, I’m going to stick with him. I just went for it and it might have been a little early. I was gone, I didn’t know what was going on.”

In a race in which competitors charged hard from the outset and ran to exhaustion, Chandler used his closing speed to outlast the returning state fourth-place finisher from Colville, 15 minutes, 37 seconds to 15:39 on the 3.06-mile course to cap a day of state-qualifying races at Fairways Golf Course.

Six Great Northern League teams, including the champion Cheney boys and Deer Park girls, and individuals among the top 15 from six of the eight league schools qualified to compete next Saturday in Pasco.

“It hurts, but it feels so amazing right now,” said Chandler. “I love it.”

Rose finished ahead of teammate Jake Hastings, who had run No. 1 for the Indians much of the season.

During a race among three schools that had tied for first during the GNL season, the Cheney Blackhawks got come-through fourth- and sixth-place finishes from Daniel Issa and Reese Martin and just slipped past Colville, 50-53.

Both teams placed ahead of West Valley as last year’s third-place state finisher, its team returning intact, scored 70 points and just did qualify for a state return.

2A girls: What a difference a year makes.

Last season, West Valley’s Krystal Hughes finished sixth in district and Deer Park was fifth as a team. This time, Hughes stormed to the individual victory while the Deer Park Stags won their first district championship since 2002.

Hughes was timed in 18:41, leaving fellow junior Chantel Duenich of Deer Park second for the second straight year.

“I knew Chantel was going to be big-time competition and it would take work, but I just had to,” said Hughes of her 7-second victory.

In the process, WV – fourth in district last year – qualified along with the Deer Park Stags to state, joined by third-place Riverside, last year’s second-place 2A finisher in Pasco.

Under the tutelage of second-year coach Wes Player, no stranger to state success when he coached at Mead before retiring, Deer Park improved by leaps and bounds.

“The girls are so excited to experience something like this,” said Player.

He said the goal was to qualify for state, not necessarily win district.

Injuries played a part in the team outcome. Riverside’s Stephanie Dye had a stress fracture last year and was used sparingly this season as a precaution. She finished fifth.

League champion Cheney was without No. 1 runner Kyle Miller because of a stress fracture and finished a distant fourth.

District 5-6-7 B: There were no real surprises during the B races.

Odessa’s Matt Cronrath, continuing the family business, leaped to the head of the boys class. Defending state champion Lisa Vandenburg repeated her district title.

Team favorites St. George’s and Reardan finished 1-2, as expected, in both races. Teams from those two schools and other runners among the top 10 in each race qualified for state

Last spring Cronrath won the 800 and 1,600 meters for Odessa’s runaway 1B track champions. Fourth in district and fifth at state in cross country the previous fall, he breezed to the overland championship.

He beat last year’s state runner-up, Herschel Sanchey from Klickitat, by 15 seconds in his fastest time this year, 16 minutes, 1 second.

“My mom and my sister won cross country championships and I wanted to be the third,” said Cronrath. “Last year I was hardly doing any miles and I had a better off-season this summer.”

Higher mileage and intense workouts helped him race away from Sanchey, Valley Christian’s Jeff Pope and Brian Angove of St. George’s.

Angove paced a Dragons team effort that placed five runners among the top 12 and produced a 24-54 win over Reardan. Both qualify for state.

In the girls race, Vandenburg eased to a 19:36 time and 26-second edge on Glenwood’s Neola Putnam.

“I didn’t want to take it out too hard and die,” Vandenburg said. “I kind of did that last year.”

Vandenburg said she probably could have run faster, but she was satisfied with her time because a cold slowed her down.

Like the boys, the St. George’s girls dominated their race, beating Reardan 20-51. The Dragons, led by Katie Reidy, placed five runners between third and ninth.