Colville boys edge Lakeside for title

PASCO – It was no secret that the Colville and Lakeside boys cross country teams harbored state championship thoughts.

Longtime Riverside coach Bill Kemp, however, kept mum about his expectations for the girls team.

On a day that belonged to the Great Northern League, the Colville overcame past postseason trials against the Eagles 74-85, earning the Indians their first State 2A championship in a taut four-team race.

East Valley (Yakima) was third at 91, and Lakewood, with a one-two finish by Tyler Rapp and Scott Skiles, placed fourth with 96.

Earlier in the day Kemp took the wraps off his young Rams, who scored 110 points to easily beat Port Townsend.

Boys

An emotional Jake Wilson broke down on the awards stand when the impact of what Colville had accomplished hit him.

“I’m a wreck,” the tearful senior said while clutching the title trophy. “This means everything. The guys ran their hearts out.”

Second-year coach Dean Fischer knew the talent was there, since the Indians had won back-to-back league titles. It’s just that Lakeside had stood in the way twice at district and last year in state.

“We knew we had to work on people’s heads a little better than we had,” said Fischer.

Most notable was Justin Rose, a talented sophomore, but one who had faltered late the last two seasons. Instead of running out front, he was asked to let Wilson pace him and be there at the end.

The strategy worked. District champion Ryan Cloke added a third-place state finish and Wilson finished 11th. Rose was 16th and Nathan Musson 18th.

Lakeside’s Max Reeder ran eighth and Kyle Johnson 13th, but Rose and Musson finished ahead of the third Eagles finisher for the cushion the Indians needed.

“What an incredible day!” marveled Fisher following the meet. “The boys worked for it so hard all season long. They had a vision for it (the state title) and never lost sight of it.”

He called Colville’s championship a community effort. Former coach Mike Bestrom used a Civil War poem about togetherness called “Pull The Rope” as the theme.

The Indians pulled in unison on Saturday.

Riverside’s Erik Kuno medaled in 12th place.

Girls

Last week Kemp downplayed his team’s state title chances but slyly suggested good things could happen.

“When the boys won in 2001 we pretty much knew they had it short of a major failure,” he said on Saturday. “In the last month or so I thought the girls could do it, but with young girls you don’t know what will happen.”

Juniors Stephanie Dye, who finished sixth, and Mariah Hansen were the team’s only state veterans. Others on the team included three freshmen and a sophomore.

Watching them perform at South Whidby and the SunFair meet in Yakima convinced Kemp that they had enough talent, and in meet results he realized state was so balanced that they had a chance.

“I didn’t say anything to the kids. We didn’t write goals,” he said. “I talked about a state trophy, but played it low key.”

Hansen said the team did talk about winning a trophy at state, but admitted surprise with the title.

Behind Dye, freshmen Amanda Wilson placed 14th and Sammi Nelson 34th as the Rams No. 2 and 3 runners. Sophomore Melissa Sweeney and freshman Charissa Suhr completed scoring.

And the Rams added one more trophy to Kemp’s 26-year total.

Colville’s Brittney Williams improved to third this year in the girls race, finishing behind sisters Sarah and Shannon Porter from Hockinson.

“I’ve never raced against sisters, it was kind of weird,” she said. “I wanted to get those two, but they’re good runners. Next year.”

Lakeside’s Kayloni Jones got 10th place.