Panthers Qualify For State Meet

Thu., Nov. 2, 1995

Mike Vlahovich Staff Writer

The new regional cross country format gave seven-time state boys cross country champion Mead High School a lifeline.

Without it the Panthers would not be in Pasco on Saturday defending their title.

Three teams and other individuals among the top 15 finishers qualified for state. Beaten by Ferris for the championship, Mead nonetheless claimed one of the team berths that would normally have been reserved for a Big Nine school.

The Greater Spokane League would have had just one of those teams and five individuals had the regional not taken place.

Not only do the Panthers have a shot at a state championship, but also benefiting from the change are three North Side runners who would not have made it to state otherwise.

Seventh-place finisher Jon Caballero and 14th-place Justin Hill from North Central as well as eighth-place Cameron Hatch from Rogers will all be part of the Pasco field.

For while Mead’s boys team made it to state along with Panther girls Stephanie Goaslind and Katie Pollock, the girls team finished fourth, a mere point away from defending state champion Eisenhower for the third team spot.

And they had a better chance than did Riverside, which finished second in the Frontier race that sent just one team and five runners to state.

Rams Jon Ashcraft and Nick Barth qualified by finishing in the top five of the AA district race, but their teammates were left home for the first time in three years.

An injury that sidelined last year’s A district champion, Marc Horton, hurt the team, which merited state consideration anyway.

“With state cross country, it doesn’t cost much to send three or four open teams.” said Riverside coach Bill Kemp.

Because of invitational meets during the year, he said it would be easy for coaches to honestly select the worthy teams rather than rely primarily on school enrollment as a qualifying criterion.

“The state meet is not a competition of the best, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t be,” said Kemp.

Among A-B state qualifiers are Jaime Stone of Deer Park and Lindsey McElroy of Lakeside, who were third and fourth girls finishers in district, and Lakeside boys runner Mike Witt who placed 11th.

Lakeside clinches playoff spot

Lakeside’s young and surprising football team is in the State A playoffs for the second straight year.

Junior quarterback George Pettigrew threw four touchdown passes during a 42-20 victory over Medical Lake, giving him 10 touchdown passes for the year.

Lakeside, second in league last year with a senior oriented team, has only six seniors on this roster.

The Eagles join Greater Spokane League team Mead as a state entrant.

Mead will test surging Shadle Park in its season finale with sophomore quarterback Nate Adams, who has replaced injured Jason Lewis.

The Highlanders upset Lewis and Clark last week for their third win of the season.

Sean Kingsbury rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown, ran back a missed field goal 98 yards for another and the Highlanders gained 269 yards on the ground against the Tigers.

, DataTimes

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