By Aaron Lommers Herald Writer
PASCO — A week ago, despite a victory at the Kingco/Wesco bi-district meet, Jackson boys cross country coach Eric Hrushka was disappointed with the way his team had run.
Hrushka was feeling a little different after his team placed third at the Class 4A state meet on Saturday. The Timberwolves finished with 129 points, behind only Gig Harbor and Eisenhower.
“I thought overall we did real well,” Hrushka said. “We are pretty excited that some of our top senior guys rebounded from last week. They were seeded fourth and to get third, which is pretty good.”
Individually, freshman Aaron Roe led the way for Jackson, finishing in 17th place in 15 minutes, 45 seconds. Roe was also the highest local finisher in the race.
“I’m kind of bummed because I’m just seeing the results and he just misses making the podium by one spot,” Hrushka said. “That was one of our goals for him as a freshman to be on the podium, which would have been incredible. It is so rare for a freshman to get up there. But he runs very, very well in the state meet, first time out here.”
One person who made it on the podium — the very top of it was Hap Emmons of King’s. Emmons won the individual 1A boys state championship by 11 seconds over his closest competitor in 15:44.
“It feels really good,” Emmons said. “I’ve been working for it for a long time, so it’s good to finally get it.”
Emmons made his move late to get his championship.
“Pretty much today I just stayed on the leaders for a while,” Emmons said. “I kept my distance behind them and then I made my move with a little less than a half mile to go.”
It was a plan that King’s head coach Rod Wilcox had drawn up before the race.
“Hap was under explicit orders not to lead until the end,’ Wilcox said. “And he did what he was told.”
Wilcox joked that it was his coaching that helped Emmons, but ultimately gave the credit to his senior state champion.
“He’s a tough kid, ran tough,” Wilcox said.
Emmons performance helped King’s earn third place as a team with 109 points. The Knights finished one point behind second-place Colville.
King’s freshman Andrew Ayers placed ninth in 16:35.
3A boys
Oak Harbor placed 11th and Glacier Peak placed 15th. Oak Harbor’s Matt Reith placed 39th in 16:19 to lead the Wildcats and Michael Matwichuk placed 80th in 16:56 to lead the Grizzlies.
Mason Newton of Everett was the highest local finisher in 25th place with a time of 16:04.
2A boys
Cedarcrest’s Mitchell Montgomery placed 10th in 15:59 and Logan Orndorf placed 14th in 16:06 to become the two highest local finishers. As a team, Cedarcrest placed seventh with 195 points.
Archbishop Murphy’s Sam Holeman placed 15th in 16:10.
At Sun Willows Golf Course, Pasco
Class 4A Boys
Team scores—Gig Harbor 55, Eisenhower 78, Jackson 129, Wenatchee 143, Central Valley 166, Garfield 189, Puyallup 210, Tahoma 213, Kamiak 261, Bellarmine Prep 263, Redmond 267, Skyline 277, Kentwood 292, Union 349, Todd Beamer 366, Battle Ground 393.
Local finishers—17. Aaron Roe (Jackson) 15:45.3, 29. Blake Nelson (Jackson) 16:09.3, 43. Nick Calacat 16:17.6, 46. Steven Statham (Cascade) 16:20.1, 49. Ryan Bradford (Kamiak) 16:21.2, 52. Jerry Behrens (Kamiak) 16:22.8, 55. Jacob Atkinson (Jackson) 16:24.3, 57. Austin Wood (Monroe) 16:24.8, 66. Scott Schmitt (Lake Stevens) 16:30.1, 69. Jack Griffing (Edmonds-Woodway 16:31.4, 71. Jadon Olson (Jackson) 16:34.5, 72. Collin Holman (Jackson) 16:34.7, 76. Wade Weinert (Stanwood) 16:36.1, 79. Zach Bush (Lake Stevens) 16:38.2, 81. Brandon Brown (Jackson) 16:40.9, 85. Tomislav Smith (Kamiak) 16:44.9, 92. Mason Nicol (Lake Stevens) 16:49.6, 101. Jackson Carter (Kamiak) 16:57.6, 107. Joey Davis (Kamiak) 17:00.2, 137. Ben Halladay (Kamiak) 17:46.4, 139. Gustaf Lagerkrans (Kamiak) 17:50.1.
Class 3A Boys
Team scores—North Central 59, Seattle Prep 80, Kamiakin 81, Bellevue 98, Mt. Spokane 98, Camas 233, Nathan Hale 246, Columbia River 280, Lakes 280, Bishop Blanchet 290, Oak Harbor 306, Lakeside 318, Hazen 318, Capital 324, Glacier Peak 369, Auburn Mountainview 376.
Local finishers—25. Mason Newton (Everett) 16:04.4, 30. Carter Osborne (Shorecrest) 16:09.3, 39. Matt Reith (Oak Harbor) 16:19.2, 51. Mattson Overstreet (Everett) 16:28.7, 61. Joshua Schrum (Oak Harbor) 16:38.5, 69. John Rodeheffer (Oak Harbor) 16:49.1, 71. Keenan Stephens (Shorewood) 16:49.6, 80. Michael Matwichuk (Glacier Peak) 16:56.9, 94. Zach Smith (Glacier Peak) 17:05.5, 99. Alec Northrop (Glacier Peak) 17:10.2, 105. Sam Juozapaitis (Glacier Peak) 17:15.4, 107. Keagan Smith (Glacier Peak) 17:18.6, 111. John Kaltenbach (Oak Harbor) 17:19.6, 114. James Horne (Glacier Peak) 17:22.5, 118. Esai Cunningham (Oak Harbor) 17:29.6, 125. Stephen Miller (Oak Harbor) 17:39.7, 133. Blake Forkey (Glacier Peak) 17:58.2, 138. Dakota Powers (Oak Harbor) 18:39.4.
Class 2A Boys
Team scores—Lindbergh 112, Sehome 113, Deer Park 148, Selah 172, Ellensburg 184, Squalicum 190, Cedarcrest 195, Cheney 195, Interlake 206, Mark Morris 206, White River 238, Olympic 249, Renton 283, East Valley-Spokane 292, Tumwater 303, Aberdeen 315.
Local finishers—10. Mitchell Montgomery (Cedarcrest) 15:59.2, 14. Logan Orndorf (Cedarcrest) 16:06.9, 15. Sam Holeman (Archbishop Murphy) 16:10.4, 72. Cody Wanichek (Cedarcrest) 17:10.5, 83. Gage Catherman (Cedarcrest) 17:15.4, 87. Dominic Dams (Cedarcrest) 17:18.2, 90. Quinn Radbourne (Cedarcrest) 17:23.6, 97. Madison Waterman (Cedarcrest) 17:28.
Class 1A Boys
Team scores—Lakeside 79, Colville 108, King’s 109, Charles Wright Academy 167, Lynden Christian 195, Omak 222, Montesano 224, La Center 224, Cashmere 226, Meridian 241, Toledo 251, Royal 262, Highland 274, Northwest 275, White Salmon 326, Zillah 350.
Local finishers—1. Hap Emmons (King’s) 15:44, 9. Andrew Ayers (King’s) 16:35, 14. Connor Macdonald (Cedar Park Christian) 16:46, 17. Kyle Cole (Cedar Park Christian) 16:48, 36. Hunter Bryson (King’s) 17:14, 56. Jonathan Yu (King’s) 17:38, 82. Arthur Emmons (King’s) 18:01, 110. Ryan Mills (King’s) 18:47.
