U-Hi Paces Pack Second-Place Shadle Girls Almost Give Gsl Sweep

Heart-stopping outcomes highlighted a terrific day for Greater Spokane League cross country runners.

University senior Ian Johnson edged Sean Knapp of Gig Harbor in a dead sprint to the finish, helping the Titans defend their State 4A boys title and leading the GSL in a sweep of the top four places Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

“This was good fun for the kids,” said Titans coach Bob Barbero of his second straight state championship. “They worked hard for it.”

Shadle Park girls finished second, just a heart-rending two points from their first title after Highlanders Erin Krogel, Lanaia Jones and Chelsey Latendresse placed among the top 12, ahead of all other GSL entrants.

“Everybody PR’d; you can’t ask for any more than that,” Highlanders coach Bob Isitt said. “It’s only a shock to us because we truly believed we were going to win.”

The morning began foggy for the first race at 10 a.m. It gave way to brief periods of sunshine before the 4A boys finale at 1:30 p.m.

In that race, the GSL put nine individuals among the top 15. Mead finished second as a team, Lewis and Clark was third and Ferris fourth.

Earlier in the day, five GSL girls runners placed in the top 12 and the Mead girls finished fourth.

“I’ll be honest, I think we expected it,” said Mead boys coach Pat Tyson. “You look at what has gone on these last few years and it’s been a GSL deal.”

4A boys

The team outcome may have been a foregone conclusion, but the individual race was up for grabs.

Johnson and Knapp got away from defending champion Tom Becker of Mt. Spokane, then waged an all-out dash for the finish in the 3.1-mile race. Johnson won by .6 second in 15:18.

“I had my moments of doubt where I was thinking maybe I’ll be satisfied with second,” said Johnson.

But the three-time State 3A participant at Monroe before transferring to U-Hi resolved to reap the ultimate reward for the work he had put in to realize a dream.

“It meant so much to me; I put it all on the line,” he said.

As a result, Johnson is the Titans’ first boys individual cross country champion.

Behind him, Titans Kris Johnson and Max Schmidt finished sixth and ninth. U-Hi also had the 25th and 30th finishers in seniors Mike Visintainer and Mark Davis. The Titans’ 48 points nearly duplicated last year’s winning total of 46.

Becker finished third while running 15 seconds faster than a year ago.

“They made a move about the 2-mile mark and I should have gone with them,” Becker said. “I thought they were going to come back. They just didn’t.”

Mead slipped past LC for second place when the Tigers’ season-long leader, Joey Neuman, finished 43rd.

“You always hope that maybe you can be in the hunt to win,” said Tyson. “When you can be second here, you can be pleased.”

4A girls

No one was more stunned than Krogel when she went from Shadle Park’s third runner much of the year to its top state finisher.

Krogel placed sixth overall, just ahead of Jones. Latendresse was 12th.

“I totally surprised myself,” the Shadle Park junior said. “I was expecting top 20, if I could. I don’t know what I did, to be honest.”

What she did was sweep past Jones, regional champion Jamie Rosenquist of LC and Carly Barnes of Gonzaga Prep.

An asthmatic, Krogel kept waiting for the pain.

“I was expecting to start hurting and I didn’t,” she said. “I started catching one person, then another.”

Just inside the last mile, she passed Jones, then the other duo.

“It’s a dream come true,” Krogel said.

Jones felt the same way, finishing 2 seconds behind Krogel’s 18:53.

“I haven’t beaten Carly and Jamie all year. That was one of my main goals,” Jones said. “Erin passed me with about three-quarters of a mile left. That kind of inspired me. If she can do this for the team, so can I.”

Rosenquist placed eighth and Barnes ninth.

Kim Stone of Bethel, third a year ago, clipped 18 seconds off her time to finish first in 18:28.

Marysville-Pilchuck scored 127 points to 129 for Shadle Park. Defending champion South Kitsap had 132, four ahead of Mead.

No doubt, each Highlander is thinking of the runner or two each could have passed.

“That’s athletics; that’s sports,” Isitt said. “We grow from it. We ran as well as we can; you can’t ask for anything more than that.”