Lakeside boys cream of crop
PASCO – Lakeside began the season unranked among Class 1A boys cross country teams, an oversight considering the veteran team placed second in State 2A the previous year.
The slight was rectified on Saturday when the powerful Eagles rolled to the 1A title and the school’s third team championship overall during the Washington State Cross Country Championships at Sun Willows Golf Course.
It was one of four team victories and five second places among 12 team trophies, plus three individual wins and a second place in 10 races by Spokane area schools,.
Besides the Eagles in smaller school meets, St. George’s beat two-time defending champion Reardan 36-54 for the State B boys title, despite Brad Serdar’s second straight championship. The Dragons girls were second and Reardan fourth. Individually, Northwest Christian freshman Lisa Vandenburg won her first championship.
In 2A, defending girls champion Riverside finished second and West Valley’s boys were third.
2A: With state classification realignment, this was one loaded meet. Riverside coach Bill Kemp said he would have been satisfied to merely earn a trophy.
Yet, even though top runner Stephanie Dye was recovering from a stress fracture – she was the Rams’ third finisher – they placed three runners between 20th and 25th in a 78-96 loss to newcomer Sehome.
“With Stephanie sore and the 3A teams down, personally I was hoping for fourth place,” Kemp said. “I was pleased with this.”
West Valley’s boys, with nary a senior, were part of a three-team race among former 3A teams, Burlington-Edison won with 55 points, last year’s champion Sehome had 73 and the Eagles 86. Fourth place was another 82 points behind.
Colville’s Justin Rose finished fourth and the Eagles’ Richard Keroack was seventh. Both are juniors.
1A: The powerful Eagles had four finishers among the top 10, including a 4-5-6 finish to beat King’s 45-98 in the 1A boys race.
“At first the guys felt denied when they got put down to 1A,” coach Steve Olson said.
However, given realignment this year, this title had to be gratifying.
“It was very pleasant to watch as the race was unfolding,” said Olson. “To have four in the top 10 was even more amazing.”
Max Reeder, Kyle Johnson and Tim Welch were separated by nine seconds. Eric Alexander finished 10th and the Eagles were impossible to snare.
In the girls race, Lakeside’s Kayloni Jones finished fifth and Newport’s Terece Hahn seventh.
B: Serdar was in his final state race and was winning for his team. Vandenburg was in her first, the lone Northwest Christian (Colbert) runner, although Northwest Christian (Lacey) was team champion 54-76 over St. George’s.
Her brothers preceded her at state, Steve finishing second in 2003. So she’s no stranger to Pasco. And she ran in good company with and against 4A runner-up Andrea Nelson in middle school.
She pulled away from the field to win by 25 seconds in 19:20.
“I knew I could do it, I just didn’t know I (would) do it,” she said. “Running is in my blood.”
Serdar said, “I definitely thought I had to win because it was my last race and basically I just thought the team can use this.”
He outlegged Klickitat’s Herschel Sanchey and Valley Christian’s Jeff Pope by three seconds, but St. George’s had five scorers in the top 17, including fourth-place finisher Brian Angove.
“It’s what I hoped for,” said St. George’s coach Josh Hayes. “But you know everybody brings it at state and I had a little bit of sleepless nights. I’m proud of the kids.”