Peerless Saxons rule

PASCO – Who’s No. 1? For Ferris’ boys cross country team the answer is any of four individuals throughout this year, which is why the Saxons emphatically defended their State 4A championship.

On a sunny day under perfect running conditions, Ben Poffenroth picked the perfect time for his turn at the top, finishing fifth in his best race of the year.

The 4A team finish duplicated last year’s with Ferris outscoring Mead and Eisenhower 46-92-104.

In the earlier 4A girls race, Rogers’ Becca Noble placed third in a hot contest, just six points separating Bellarmine Prep, which won a tiebreaker with Gig Harbor, from third-place Snohomish. Bellarmine’s Brie Felnagle defended her championship in a record time.

4A boys

Poffenroth had a big come-through, but in truth, his race merely personified how the Saxons’ front-runner embarrassment of riches made the title look easy.

Five Saxon scorers finished ahead of any other team’s No. 3 runner, all of them placing 23rd or higher in the 151-runner race.

“Our team is so deep and so close, it is awesome,” Poffenroth said.

During the year there were times that Robert Cosby was Ferris’ No. 1 runner. At other times, said coach Mike Hadway, Brendan Chestnut, consistently at No. 1 or 2, took the lead, as did Peter Hawkins.

But it wasn’t until Saturday that Poffenroth, a four-year varsity performer, took his turn.

“I’ve been waiting all year for one of those races,” he said. “All week I was saying, well I haven’t had a good race yet. Everyone was telling me I could do it. I wanted to leave it all at state.”

Ferris let Eisenhower and Mead set the early pace, but picked its way through the field as the day’s final 5,000-meter race reached the two-thirds point. By then the Saxons quintet had positioned itself in a pack, near the front of the field.

At the finish it was obvious who the champions were. Poffenroth finished in 15:40 behind Kamiak’s Kevin Spady, a pair of Eisenhower runners and Mead’s Laef Barnes.

Just 10 seconds separated the next four Saxons, Chestnut 12th in 15:50, Cosby 14th in 15:52, Stephen Olsen 20th in 15:56 and Hawkins 23rd in 16:00.

“One key was getting Cosby back up there,” said Hadway. “And one kid who ran well was Olsen.”

The Saxon sophomore had a personal record by 3 seconds.

Was Hadway worried that his team wouldn’t win after finishing behind Eisenhower in the regionals a week earlier?

“I didn’t doubt them,” sad Hadway, “but always in the back of your mind it was: Is the Stanford team going to turn up?”

That was Ferris’ one poor race of the year, the result of a mixture of injuries, illness and overconfidence. But Saturday’s performance was more like the Jim Danner Invitational in Oregon, when the Saxons asserted themselves as the region’s best team.

And while it was tough to compare the feeling of winning last year’s title after 20 years of trying with his second straight, Hadway was enjoying the moment.

“This one’s just as sweet,” he said.

4A girls

The race between two of the finest middle distance runners in Washington history didn’t materialize when Noble and Felnagle squared off.

The defending champ from Bellarmine Prep took command midway through and dashed home in a record 17:53. Her time broke the previous 5K course record set in 1998 by East Valley’s Melanie Frostad by 17 seconds.

But there was no remorse by Noble whose 18:39 time would have won several races over the past seven years.

“At first I didn’t know where they were,” said Noble, who ran sixth for most of the race before her patented sprint enabled her to rally at the end. “I knew Brie was way up there, but I passed three girls on the downhill.”

In her final cross country state meet, Noble was more than pleased with her effort.

“That was my fastest time,” she said. “It’s a very good end to the season.”

Next highest GSL finisher was Mt. Spokane’s Jill Keller in 24th. She also was awarded the race’s sportsmanship medallion. Lewis and Clark was sixth as a team.