Scot boys finish fourth

LAKEWOOD

In what amounts to a preview race that means little for 3A schools in particular, the Shorecrest boys team finished fourth out of eight teams in the Western Conference South Division cross country championships Oct. 20 at Lakewood High School.

Shorecrest sophomore Joe McConaughy finished 13th in a time of 17 minutes, 7 seconds to lead the Scots in the boys race. McConaughy’s time was 12 seconds faster than what he ran as a freshman on the course.

Sophomore Chris Freeborn came in 20th in 17:24, senior Will Rotter took 26th in 18:04, senior Hans Anderson finished 27th in 18:04 and junior Tyler Kirkness crossed 29th in 18:14 to wrap up the scoring for Shorecrest. Jackson won the team title with 39 points.

Next up for the Shorecrest boys and girls are the District 1 races Oct. 27 at South Whidbey High School.

The girls race is at 12:10 p.m. and the boys run at 2 p.m. The top two boys and girls teams and top 10 individual boys and girls go on to state at Pasco Nov. 3. Most of the runners at districts come from the Wesco North and Northwest League.

The Shorecrest boys snuck in and earned the final team berth to state the last two years. A lot of unknowns exist as they head into districts.

“It’s tough because we don’t race against the competition throughout the year,” Shorecrest boys coach Amber Fischer said. “It’s hard to know what we’ll be going against.”

Sophomore Danielle Lyons finished 25th to top the Shorecrest girls with a time of 22:11.

“She ran very well,” girls coach Beth Goenen said. “The game face was on for her today. She is one that runs well under pressure.”

Junior Lisa Lizarraga came in 26th with a time of 22:20, junior Sarah Moehrke was 35th in 23:21, senior Heather Pence finished 40th in 23:37 and junior Jennifer Gibbons crossed 48th in 24:29 to round out the scoring. The Scots finished seventh out of nine teams with 168 points. Jackson took the title with 43 points.

This is the best Shorecrest team in nearly a decade, but the Scots still are a longshot to earn individual or team berths to state.

“Next week will be the real tell-tale sign of how competitive we are with the 3A schools,” Goenen said. “We have a lot of experience. We hope that pays off. They want that next step.”