LAKEWOOD — Ten area high school cross country runners advanced to the state championships after qualifying at district meets Saturday.
Port Townsend will send three runners while Port Angeles, Chimacum and Forks will send two and Sequim one.
The state cross country championships are scheduled for this coming Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
No area teams qualified for state, but the Port Angeles boys squad had a heartbreaking finish by capturing sixth place with only the top five teams moving on.
The Roughrider girls were two places away from state in seventh.
“I thought we competed well,” Port Angeles boys coach Pat Durr said. “We certainly left it all on the course. We didn’t leave back anything. The kids were spent after the race.
“I’m proud of how hard we worked this season to get to a very competitive level.”
The Spartans had the best individual performances by having two girls finish in the top nine at the Southwest Washington District’s 1A meet in Battle Ground.
Port Townsend’s Xavier Frank was the top area boy with an 11th-place finish at the 1A West Central District meet, and teammate Brittany Grant claimed 12th in the 1A girls race.
Sisters Kristen and Kari Larson of Forks were top of the class, as senior Kristen Larson was seventh in the 5,000-meter Southwest Washington championship race in a time of 20 minutes, 49.37 seconds.
Little sister Kari Larson, a freshman, was a few steps behind in ninth place at 21:01.89 at Lewisville Park.
Forks boys teammate Omar Estrada, a senior, came close to reaching state, finishing two spots out in 22nd place (18:01.90.)
Meanwhile, at the Westside Classic at American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood, Port Townsend’s Frank captured 11th in the 1A boys 3.1-mile race in 17:12.6, while teammate Addison Harper took 17th in 17:31.2.
Grant claimed 12th place in 20:40.4.
Chimacum had two boys qualify for state in the 1A race as Griffin Hoins captured 19th place in 17:34.4 and Niko Ware took 20th in 17:35.2.
The Port Angeles boys came oh so close in the 2A Westside Classic with 153 points for sixth, just behind Olympic’s 129, good for fifth place and the final state spot.
Lindbergh won the boys title with 55 points while Interlake was runner-up with 70 and White River third with 91.
Sequim’s lone state qualifier, Adrian Clifford, took 16th place in the 2A race in 17:02.8.
Port Angeles had two heartbreaks in the boys competition as Michael Ahrens finished one place out of state in 26th place (17:26.9.)
Only the top 25 individuals moved on in the 2A race.
In the girls race, Elizabeth Stevenson was 19th for the Riders to earn a state berth in a time of 21:05..2.
