<< Previous   of   Next >> For the Enterprise/MOLLY VAN WAGNER  (click to enlarge) Mitchell Briggs, left, of Henry M. Jackson High School, reacts alongside his teammates after seeing the results of the state 4A cross country meet Nov. 7 in Pasco. The team placed second for the second year in a row.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

History repeats for Timberwolves

By Mike Cane
For The Enterprise

Another year as the favorite. Another second-place trophy. Another Spokane team was the villain.

For the second straight year, the Jackson High School boys cross country team came into the Class 4A state meet ranked No. 1 in Washington and seemingly primed to end the Spokane teams’ decades-long grip on the big-school team title.

But as in 2008, Jackson came in with historic expectations and left wondering what could have been.

In a showdown of top-10 nationally ranked teams, Ferris of Spokane dominated and ran away from Jackson in the Class 4A boys race on Nov. 7 during the 2009 State Cross Country Championships at Sun Willows Golf Course.

On a windy, increasingly overcast afternoon, Ferris prevailed with authority in the 4A team battle, tallying 68 points compared to Jackson’s 100. In cross country, each team’s five-fastest runners score team points based on their placing. The lowest cumulative team score wins.

The individual 4A champ was Central Kitsap senior Shane Moskowitz, the 2008 runnerup. He won on Saturday in 15:06, a victory margin of 16 seconds. Leading all local individuals, Oak Harbor junior Tyler King placed fifth thanks to a blazing final mile.

Ferris — ranked No. 1 nationally in the preseason and currently No. 9 in America in the Harrier Super 25 poll — packed five runners in the top 30 individuals on the 3.1-mile (5,000-meter) course. Meanwhile, Jackson — ranked No. 1 in the Super 25 — had three runners in the top 17 (junior Sean Roe, 12th; senior Mitchell Briggs, 15th; senior Connor Frederickson, 17th). But its final two scoring runners placed far behind Ferris’ fourth and fifth runners.

“They were solid,” Jackson’s Roe said of Ferris. “They out-ran us, kind of like Mead did last year. It’s kind of an unfortunate reoccurrence in events.”

Since 1988 big-school boys state cross country titles have been won only by Mead, University and Ferris. Last year Mead beat Jackson by eight points.

During the initial start the race was marred by a huge pileup near the top of the first hill. A little more than 100 meters in, runners from one end appeared to wedge toward the middle, setting off an avalanche of falling athletes.

An official fired a gun, signaling a restart. Several runners, including three from Cascade High, got trampled and scraped by other runners’ metal spikes. While medical workers attended to bloodied kids, including Cascade junior Aaron Campbell, officials delayed the restart for about 17 minutes. Runners tried to stay loose and warm up again but it was an odd mental disruption.

“It was hard to get going and psych ourselves up again,” Jackson’s Briggs said.

After praising Ferris, Jackson coach Eric Hruschka noted that his Timberwolves had some bad luck on Saturday beyond the restart. Senior Nathan Calacat, one of Jackson’s five-best runners all year, woke up sick on Saturday and placed 100th, last among Jackson’s seven competitors.

“We’re not going to be able to win without our top five guys running a great race,” Hruschka said.

Mike Cane writes for the Herald in Everett.