U-Hi, Nc Can’t Keep Up Against Unbeaten Ferris Parrish, Hawkins Win Races As Saxon Teams Improve To 4-0

University and North Central arrived at Ferris on Wednesday to compete against the host Saxons.

As it turned out, Ferris’ main competition came from itself.

Led by senior Kristen Parrish, the fifth-ranked Saxons girls captured the top four places and overwhelmed third-ranked U-Hi 18-38 and NC 17-41 in a Greater Spokane League cross country meet.

The Ferris boys, ranked second in the state, went 1-2-3 to deflate sixth-ranked U-Hi 20-36 and NC 20-38. Junior Isaac Hawkins won by running a personal-best 15 minutes, 39 seconds on the 3-mile course.

Both Saxons teams are 4-0 in league. In the girls’ case, they’re the lone remaining undefeated team.

“That was just a very fine effort on our girls’ part to beat a quality team,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said of the surprisingly easy win over U-Hi (3-1).

Taraka Campbell was the lone U-Hi runner who went with the lead pack of five. Jennifer Smith led the entire way, but Parrish (19:06) caught her teammate with a late sprint for a 5-second win. Jill Johnson (19:28) and Emily Hawkins (19:37) completed the Ferris sweep, with Campbell (19:49) finishing 41 seconds ahead of sixth-place Lori Kostelecky of NC (1-3).

”(Jennifer) is a strong runner,” Parrish said. “It’s hard to keep contact with her… . She’s the reason why I’m up there.”

“We knew we’d be strong judging from last week (a big win over ranked Shadle Park),” Smith said.

Isaac Hawkins broke away from his swift teammates near the 1-mile point. He beat runner-up Paul Harkins by 31 seconds and third-place Dave Schruth by 32.

“We try to break the other teams, then we try to break each other,” Hawkins said.

“We’re kind of pointing toward (Saturday’s SunFair Invitational at) Yakima,” Ferris boys coach Mike Hadway said of his team’s impending meeting with No. 1 Mead.

Although Justin Hill (16:38) and Jon Caballero (16:49) of NC (2-2) took fourth and fifth, U-Hi edged the Indians 27-30. Sixth-place James Berry led the Titans (2-2).

In other GSL three-ways, the sixth-ranked Mead girls defeated seventh-ranked Shadle and eighth-ranked Central Valley at Liberty Lake Park.

Mead (3-1) had identical 23-36 wins over both teams, led by runner-up Stephanie Goaslind (19:47) and third-place Lynde Johnson (20:03). Although Jenni Saling (19:34) of Central Valley (2-2) won the race, her Bears fell to Shadle 27-29. Krista Eide (20:16) of the Highlanders (2-2) finished fifth.

Mead’s top-ranked boys (4-0) cruised, with Morgan Thompson (16:06), Ryan Wiser (16:13) and David Green (16:18) occupying the top spots. Fourth-place Robby Warnock (16:33) helped CV (2-2) beat Shadle (0-4) 23-32.

At Finch Arboretum, Gonzaga Prep (3-1) jumped into third place by beating Rogers and Lewis and Clark. Jim Rucker (17:15) of Prep finished third, right ahead of three teammates. Cameron Hatch (16:19) of Rogers (0-4) won the race, but his Pirates fell to LC 28-31. Runner-up Ryan Johnson (16:30) led LC (1-3).

LC’s girls (2-2) occupied the top four spots, led by Sarah Bowman (21:01). Carrie Curtis (21:34) was fifth, helping Rogers (1-3) past Prep (0-4) 24-32.

, DataTimes