Arlington’s Beamer wins Hole in the Wall Invitational

ARLINGTON — Nathan Beamer spent Tuesday and Wednesday sitting around and battling the flu while wishing he could get back to practice to train for the weekend’s big meet.

And after Beamer won that big meet, all the senior cross country runner from Arlington wanted to do was sit down again.

Beamer won the final run of the day at the 32nd annual Hole in the Wall Cross Country Invitational. Beamer finished with a time of 15 minutes, 49.7 seconds to win the top boys race at one of the premier events in the Pacific Northwest Saturday afternoon at Lakewood High School.

“At first I just wanted to sit down,” Beamer said. “But now it feels pretty good.”

The final race of the day was one of the closest, with Beamer edging out Northwest’s Tibebu Proctor (15:50.0) by three tenths of a second. Beamer, Proctor and about five others all ran in a big group until Beamer made his move and Proctor hung with him.

“I think part of it was, because it was muddy and our slow start, nobody wanted to take the lead,” Beamer said. “So we were all kind of just cruising. We hit the hill and everyone’s still waiting for someone to go and I decided to do it.”

The Arlington runner had some extra motivation after finishing second at last week’s Twilight Invitational. It was the first time all season Beamer didn’t win the race he was participating in.

“Last year I took seventh (at the Hole in the Wall) and I just lost the Twilight last week so I wasn’t going to lose this one,” Beamer said. “It was tough out there though. Those guys gave me a run for my money.”

Beamer’s victory helped lead Arlington to a third-place team finish. Michael Barene finished 26th for Arlington with a time of 16:41.5, Zachary Cushman (35th) posted a time of 16:59.3 and Pieter Andrews (17:08.0) finished 45th for the Eagles.

“It’s a big accomplishment for our team,” Arlington head coach Mike Shierk said. “That’s the first time we’ve had an individual champion do that. It boosts the team’s confidence when you got that No. 1 guy. That helps your scoring. We’re collectively focused on our team goals. So, we’re going to give Nate a good swat on the butt, say ‘congratulations’ and get back to our goals of training and getting toward the championship phase.”

Central Catholic, which is a defending Oregon state champion in cross country, took first with a score of 82. Issaquah, which edged the Eagles by seven points in the Twilight Invitational a week before, finished second with 130 followed by Arlington (146).

“We’ve been to these other meets and we’ve done well. Then to come to this one — we’ve been using this as our measuring stick of where we’re at,” Shierk said. “We may come take first, we may take third. But we think we’re doing the right things at the right time.”

Other top local finishers included Kamiak’s Cullen McEachern, who placed seventh with a time of 16:15.2. Matthew Park and Sam McCloughan finished 11th and 18th, respectively, to help Edmonds-Woodway (228) to a sixth-place finish. Lake Stevens, led by a 19th-place finish by Trevor Allen (16:31.0), was seventh with 257 points and Glacier Peak (277) placed ninth. Sawyer Carter led the Grizzlies, finishing 24th overall with a time of 16:40.8.

In the top varsity girls’ race, Kamiak freshman Taylor Roe finished second overall with a time of 18:38.0. Roe, who ran unattached in last year’s Hole in the Wall event, raced with Erin Mullins of Cascade-Leavenworth for most of the race before Mullins (18:19.9) pulled away late.

“It’s definitely good to come out and race against competitive people so we can assess where we are with our fitness and really get ready for state,” Roe said. “We’re racing against amazing people and (trying) to test our fitness for state and really try to get ready for that. And it’s also really fun to go against everybody.”

Roe, a heralded freshman who won the 13-14 girls division at the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships last year, has shined early this year for the Knights.

“It certainly comes with some pressure and some expectations along with it but she’s a great competitor, she loves getting after it, and she knows who all those girls are,” Kamiak head coach Charley LeWarne said. “She had a real strong sense of who was out there today.”

LeWarne said that Roe’s father told him she was eager to see what she could do at the Hole in the Wall event.

“Her dad mentioned a couple of weeks ago that this was a date that was circled on her calendar, as far as getting a chance to run against some of those people that we won’t see other times in 3A,” LeWarne said. “… It’s always fun to see kids compete and do well. When you’re right up there in the front and garnering that attention — not only for the sport, but for the team and her individually — it’s a kick.”

Kamiak junior Katherine Slack finished 12th with a time of 19:31.1 and Nicole Vijgen, the lone senior for the Knights, placed 35th (20:22.6).

Mt. Si won the girls’ title with a score of 135, edging out second-place Kamiak (142). Issaquah (157) placed third and Glacier Peak (162) and Edmonds-Woodway (172) rounded out the top five.

“I think it’s a pretty good day for us,” LeWarne said. “You get a day like this and that means anything that comes on later in the season is easier. Four of our top five are all new to high school cross country, so this is a good experience to throw them in there and say, ‘Here’s what the fire looks like, and you guys can compete.’ And they did, which is really exciting.”

Individually, Lynnwood junior Malia Pivec finished third behind Roe with a time of 18:38.0. Pivec’s older sister Mikayla placed seventh, with the elder Pivec finishing in 18:55.2. Edmonds-Woodway’s Yukino Parle (18:54.3) took fifth and Glacier Peak junior Heidi Smith finished 11th (19:26.8).

Monroe’s Emily Donnelly (19:39.0) placed 14th overall and Glacier Peak’s Brooke Wallace and Natalie Church finished 17th and 18th, respectively.

The annual Hole in the Wall Invitational began in 1983 when former Lakewood cross country coach Mike Evans decided to put on a cross country meet at Lakewood High School. The event has continued to grow since then, with the 2015 iteration being the largest ever with 3,203 runners from 100 teams.

The Lakewood cross country coaches and volunteers continue to ensure the meet runs smoothly. Even if the weather doesn’t always cooperate.

“It’s a spectacle. It’s a celebration of the sport,” Shierk said. “Sometimes, it’s so big that you don’t necessarily get you best performances. … We love coming here.”

At Lakewood H.S.

5,000 meters

Boys

Team scores: 1. Central Catholic 82, 2. Issaquah 130, 3. Arlington 146, 4. Mead 161, 5. Gig Harbor 170, 6. Edmonds-Woodway 228, 7. Lake Stevens 257, 8. Liberty-Issaquah 265, 9. Glacier Peak 277, 10. Bothell 288, 11. Peninsula 389, 12. Mt. Si 403, 13. Emerald Ridge 406, 14. Tumwater 426, 15. Garfield 430, 16. Federal Way 443, 17. O’Dea 444, 18. Mercer Island 447, 19. West Valley-Spokane 487, 20. Marysville Getchell 488, 21. Everett 525, 22. Kamiak 537, 23. Puyallup 563, 24. Auburn Mountainview 591, 25. Burlington-Edison 596, 26. Hazen 612, 27. Rogers-Puyallup 652, 28. Mount Vernon 662, 29. Cascade 851.

Top local finishers

Archbishop Murphy–34, Josh Rauvola 16:58.9.

Arlington–1, Nathan Beamer 15:49.7; 26, Michael Barene 16:41.5; 35, Zachary Cushman 16:59.3; 45, Pieter Andrews 17:08; 54, J.J. Childers 17:15.3.

Cascade–166, Luca Strand 18:30.0; 180, Gerardo Lopez 18:52.9; 187, Alex Reyes-Collazo 18:58.2; 207, James Ramirez 19:33.4; 210, Jacob Schafte 19:33.4.

Edmonds-Woodway–11, Matthew Park 16:21.8; 18, Sam McCloughan 16:30.9; 47, Benjamin Yang 17:12.4; 52, Grady Okeson 17:15.2; 127, Biniam Tesfaghaber 18:00.8.

Everett-64, Jordan Erickson 17:21.8; 83, Edmund Havener 17:31.7; 118, Donovan Barnhart 17:55.6; 145, Isaac O’Connell 18:10.7; 176, Klaiten Kermoade 18:44.3.

Glacier Peak–24, Sawyer Carter 16:40.8; 38, Garren Arnold 17:02.4; 78, Nick Stringer 17:28.5; 84, Tyler Tanta 17:31.7; 85, Tim Mandzyuk 17:31.8.

Kamiak–7, Cullen McEachern 16:15.2; 89, Skyler Bradford 17:35.2; 149, Braeden Smith 18:14.9; 164, Adam Alayli 18:28.3; 190, Nick Harrison 19:04.5.

Lake Stevens–19, Trevor Allen 16:31; 28, Noah Wallace 16:44.4; 57, Blake Braaten 17:16,9; 80, Cortland Novak 17:29.8; 103, Ruben Aguero 17:45.7.

Lynnwood–121, Leul Wolde 17:56.9; 153, Noah Johann 18:17.2; 173, Bryam Juarez-Ramirez 18:39.0.

Marysville Getchell–53, Cameron Wagstaff 17:15.3; 119, Zachary Arcaro-Frazier 17:55.7; 122, Thomas Lindgren 17:57.5; 123, Channing Frohlich 17:58.4; 131, Gregory Panther 18:04.6.

Meadowdale–76, Cameron Sanders 17:27.9.

Mount Vernon–100, Jahldi Merritt 17:42.9; 142, Adam Erie 18:09.4; 152, Anthony Mendoza 18:17.1; 160, Nate Young 18:26.6; 183, Alex Couch 18:53.6.

Girls

Team scores: 1. Mt. Si 135, 2. Kamiak 142, 3. Issaquah 157, 4. Glacier Peak 162, 5. Edmonds-Woodway 172, 6. Mercer Island 191, 7. Bellevue 248, 8. Liberty-Issaquah 253, 9. Arlington 266, 10. Monroe 297, 11. Lynnwood 324, 12. Lake Stevens 343, 13. Northwest 373, 14. Peninsula 388, 15. Garfield 453, 16. Stadium 464, 17. Central Catholic 474, 18. Federal Way 477, 19. Roosevelt 496, 20. Bothell 524, 21. Meridian 525, 22. Lakeside 535, 23. Holy Names Academy 550, 24. Lake Washington 603, 25. Puyallup 612, 26. Tumwater 617, 27. Emerald Ridge 629, 28. Eatonville 678, 29. Gig Harbor 724, 30. Chelan 738, 31. Todd Beamer 757, 32. Mount Baker 763, 33. Shelton 857.

Top local finishers

Arlington–25, Marie Gaudin 19:56.0; 45, Mary Andrews 20:28.3; 65, Emma Janousek 20:56.4; 90, Camellia Hanna 21:13.6; 122, Katie Taylor 21:48.8.

Edmonds-Woodway–5, Yukino Parle 18:54.4; 19, Olivia Meader-Yetter 19:44.5; 27, Sydney Boland 19:57.5; 67, Stephanie Wroblewski 20:56.8; 68, Megan Kelly 20:58.3; 60, Susan Kim 20:59.4.

Everett–115, Sophia Maggio 21:39.2.

Glacier Peak–11, Heidi Smith 19:26.8; 16, Brooke Wallace 19:39.4; 17, Natalie Church 19:43.2; 44, Hannah Clymer 20:28.1; 86, Elena Willems 21:11.1.

Kamiak–2, Taylor Roe 18:38.0; 12, Katherine Slack 19:31.1; 35, Nicole Vijgen 20:22.6; 42, Alicia Anderson 20:27.7; 63, Leah Clark 20:54.9.

Lake Stevens–50, Samantha Donner 20:37.5; 64, Faith Brooks 20:55.9; 80, Zoie Mastin 21:06.9; 87, Miah Allison 21:11.1; 88, Emily Haegeland 21:11.2; 92, Cassandra Valles 21:13.7.

Lynnwood–3, Malia Pivec 18:41.4; 7, Mikayla Pivec 18:55.2; 66, Brooke Schroeder 20:56.7; 116, Alexa Schroeder 21:43.6; 154, Taylor Fehey 22:13.7; 165, Jessica Mitchell 22:27.8.

Monroe–14, Emily Donnelly 19:39.0; 56, Savannah Hastings 20:42.8; 57, Kaley Maurer 20:44.1; 82, Kielee Kinghorn 21:08.9; 109, Payton Stringer 21:32.7.

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