PASCO — From 30th place to second place in a year, it’s been quite a climb up the ranks for Stanwood’s Minna Fields.
Fields, a junior at Stanwood High School, was the runner-up in the Class 4A girls race Saturday during the state cross country championships at Sun Willows Golf Course. After biding her time in the first mile and waiting to make her move, Fields completed the 3.1-mile (5,000-meter) course in 18 minutes, 17 seconds. Garfield senior Anna Dailey won it in 17:58.
On a fairly pleasant but windy afternoon, Fields had a huge improvement over her 30th-place performance at the 2008 state meet. Her time was 1:16 faster than last year. Fields attributed her dramatic progress to year-round dedication.
“I’ve been working really hard. I’ve been running all winter and all summer,” she said.
For the second straight year, Fields helped Stanwood win a top-four team trophy. The Spartans placed third behind winner Eastlake and runnerup Tahoma. Stanwood (126 points) was just two points behind Tahoma.
Last year Stanwood took fourth in 4A. Rising one spot in the standings wasn’t nearly as grand as what the team envisioned for 2009. Third place is “two spots lower than we were hoping for,” Stanwood coach Jordan Sneva said. “We have good girls and thought they could (win) but any time you bring home some hardware it’s good.”
Natasha Verma, Stanwood’s lone senior, placed seventh in 18:51. She was also seventh last year. The Spartans, ranked No. 6 in the state coaches’ 4A poll, were proud of their performance.
“We’ve worked so hard all season long and we’re really close. We’ve wanted this for a long time,” said Verma.
Stanwood’s success, Verma said, stemmed from the girls’ commitment to their primary preseason goal: Become better friends. They achieved that by having sleepovers and spending lots of non-sports time together.
“We’ve become a lot closer this year,” said Fields, who, along with her teammates, had stripes painted on her cheeks and her hair tied in a French braid.
Stanwood’s other top finishers were freshman Jordin Stephenson (25th), sophomore Jade Borseth (63rd) and junior Maddi Davis (103rd).
Other top local individuals were Arlington sophomore Teresa Wadey (19th) and Lake Stevens senior Samantha Minor (29th). Arlington was 14th in the team standings, Oak Harbor 15th.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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