TACOMA — Sequim’s boys and girls teams will compete at the Class 2A State Cross Country Championships for the fourth time in the past decade and the first time since 2008 after running well at the West Central District’s Westside Classic.
The Wolves’ boys team won the district championship, edging Liberty by one point, 54 to 55 in rainy and blustery conditions at Saturday’s 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) race at American Lake Golf Course.
Sequim’s girls squad took the fifth and final team berth to the state tournament after scoring 142 points.
The Wolves will compete at the state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday.
Liberty won the girls title with 30 points and Port Angeles was ninth after scoring 275 points.
“The girls ran really well and the boys ran well under the circumstances, and I say that only because the boys team and the girls teams trained differently leading up to the race,” Sequim coach Harold Huff said.
“I tapered the girls workload down, hacking the mileage significantly.
“The boys had a pretty monster training week from last Saturday [Oct. 24] through last Friday.”
The Wolves finished with three competitors in the top 10 on the boys side, led by the sixth-place finish of Jackson Oliver.
Oliver, a senior, completed the course in 17 minutes, 8.7 seconds.
Fellow senior Brendon Despain placed eighth with a time of 17:13.4 and freshman Ash Francis was ninth (17:19.5).
“Brendon Despain has consistently been our No. 1 runner and he was running with the leaders in [Saturday’s] race,” Huff said.
“The route of the course took a sharp turn and it was muddy and he had a bad fall about 1/3 of the way through the race.”
The top 30 boys finishers advanced to state as individuals.
Wendall Lorenzen (17:43.6) ended up 14th for Sequim and Chriss Jeffko placed 17th with a time of 17:47.5.
The Wolves’ CJ Daniels (18:17) and Christian Ash (19.20.8) will compete for the Sequim boys at state after finishing 32nd and 65th, respectively.
Bryce Dryke and Majel Busby will serve as alternates for the Wolves.
“The boys weren’t quite as fresh for that race and I’m confident they’ll race better at state,” Huff said.
“I think it will be a close race [for the team championship] between Sehome, Liberty and us at state.
“I think we can be competitive with both teams.”
Waverly Shreffler had the highest finish for the Sequim girls, placing third with a time of 20:33.7, 15 seconds off district winner Feven Fessehatzion of Lindbergh.
The top 25 girls finishers advanced to state as individuals.
Audrey Shingleton finished 26th for the Wolves with a time of 22:18.4, Kiara Pierson was 28th (22:25.1), Elizabeth Rosales finished 43rd (23:22.3) and Emily Webb was 52nd (23:59.7).
Those four will join Shreffler at the state meet along with Noelle Bittner (24:17.4) and Alexis Cromer (24:22.9), who finished 60th and 62nd, respectively.
Ali Cobb and Mia Steben will serve as alternates for the Wolves.
“The conditions were just awful,” Huff said.
“Toward the end of the girls race the rain came down in sheets at a right angle and the wind was like a jet airplane.”
Two to state for Port Angeles
Two runners qualified for state for Port Angeles.
Madelyn Dougherty finished 18th with a time of 21:51, while Lael Butler placed 19th (21:58).
Olympic League champion Gracie Long of Port Angeles did not compete at the district meet due to a stress fracture in her foot.
“Gracie came up to Waverly before the race and wished her good luck,” Huff said.
“We talked after that and she told me she had fractured a small bone in her foot.”
Hunter Dempsey led the Roughriders’ boys competitors, finishing 44th with a time of 18:51.30.
Cameron Butler was 48th (18:57.7) for Port Angeles.
Forks boys win district title
WOODLAND — Forks earned the Southwest Washington District 4 1A boys title at Lewis River Golf Course on Saturday.
The Spartans, led by the second-place finish of Alan Ensastegui (17:08), totaled 73 team points, edging Columbia (White Salmon) for the crown by 15 points.
The top 15 boys finishers qualified as individuals.
Austin Pegram placed 11th with a time of 18:09 and Samuel Gomez was 15th (18:32).
The Spartans also will be represented at state by Hugo Lucas, who finished 19th (18:42), Alvaro Ortiz, who placed 26th (18:54) and Johnny Lua, who came in 33rd (19:07).
Josue Lucas and Joseph Mariner will serve as alternates for Forks.
Two Forks girls to state
Two sophomore runners will compete for Forks at the state meet.
Enid Ensastegui placed ninth for the Spartans after finishing with a time of 21:29.
Marissa Bailey (21:43) earned a 10th-place finish.
The top 20 individual times advanced to the state meet.
As a team, the Forks girls finished sixth with 117 points. La Center won the team title after recording 53 points.
Port Townsend sending pair
TACOMA — Port Townsend will have a boys and girls representative at the 1A state meet.
River Yearian placed sixth (18:57.6) overall to lead the Redhawks’ boys to a third-place finish with 67 points.
Charles Wright (42) and Bellevue Christian (49) claimed the district’s two team berths to state.
On the girls side, Ally Bradley finished 10th for the Port Townsend girls with a time of 23:14.1.
The Redhawks finished fifth in the girls competition with 99 points.
