Hopper makes grandpa proud, finishes second
Published 11:57 pm Saturday, October 25, 2008
LAKEWOOD — Finding motivation is never a problem for Dylan Hopper. Before a cross country race he usually dedicates his effort to someone.
On Saturday, right before Hopper competed in the Wesco North championships, the junior from Cascade High School thought of his grandfather, Harold Hopper. Five days ago Harold endured open-heart surgery, Dylan said.
Grandpa Hopper couldn’t be at Lakewood High to watch Dylan Hopper run, but is safe to say he would have been proud of his grandson.
Using a late surge, Hopper briefly passed Oak Harbor’s Tyler King on the final straightaway but ultimately placed a second behind King. King’s time on the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course was 16 minutes, 16 seconds; Hopper crossed in 16:17.
Despite coming up a bit short of victory, Hopper had an upbeat post-race demeanor that showed he had no regrets.
“You only get a couple chances to go for a league title,” he said, “so I dug deep and went for it.”
After momentarily falling behind Hopper with about 70 meters to go, King quickly recovered and refused to give up. He passed Hopper, although King was less than certain if he had enough energy.
“I was pretty tired. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” said King, who placed sixth last year.
He became the second King in a row to win the Wesco North title. Last year Kyle King, Tyler’s brother, placed first.
Earlier this month Tyler King lost by 16 seconds against Hopper in a Wesco meet. This time King pushed the pace and built a decent lead before holding on during the intense finish.
“I knew (Hopper) was behind me because everyone was just yelling so loud,” King said. After Hopper took the lead King said he thought: “I’ve got to go!”
“We thought he was done,” said Kyle King, a freshman who now runs at Eastern Washington University and watched his younger brother win.
Lake Stevens won the team championship. The Vikings scored 51 points, easily beating runner-up Snohomish (95 points). Lake Stevens’ top finishers were brothers Drew and Scott Larson, who placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Monroe’s Brian Sutter was third.
Next weekend runners will compete in the district championships, where they will try to qualify for the state meet (Nov. 8 in Pasco).
Lake Stevens’ Wagner wins North girls title
Lacey Wagner was running so well, her coach didn’t even stick around to see if she won. (She did.)
With about 600 meters remaining for Wagner in the Wesco North girls championship race, Lake Stevens head cross country coach Cliff Chaffee said he stopped watching Wagner and diverted his attention to the Vikings’ other runners.
“She looked like she was in control. She looked really smooth,” Chaffee said.
Wagner widened her lead in the final mile and prevailed in 18:56. Second-place finisher Suzanna Ohlsen, who hung with Wagner for much of the race, finished in 19:08.
Wagner, a sophomore, became Lake Stevens’ first division champion since 2003, when Amber Nickelson won. Last year Wagner was third. She sliced 15 seconds off her 2007 time. Recent frustrations helped fuel Wagner’s surge to victory.
“After my last race I just really knew I needed to step it up or else I wouldn’t be in it,” she said.
After spending most of the season unhappy with her times, Wagner recently started training with Lake Stevens assistant coach Stuart Chaffee. She said they worked on improving her speed, running 400-meter sprints on the track. The new approach paid off on Saturday, she said.
Stanwood made history by winning the North girls team title. Spartans head coach Paul Johnson said it’s the team’s first-ever Wesco championship. Stanwood scored 56 points and second-place Snohomish tallied 70.
For many years Snohomish had a lock on the North crown, including victories from 2003-2007, based on results posted at Lakewood High.
In 2003 and 2004 Stanwood took second behind Snohomish. But this year the Spartans broke through, fueled by Natasha Verma (third place) and Jade Borseth (fourth).
“Our girls have really improved a lot over the last few weeks,” said Johnson. “We’re been able to close the (time) gap for our” top five runners.
At Lakewood High School
5,000 meters (3.1 miles)
Boys
Team scores: 1. Lake Stevens 51 points, 2. Snohomish 95, 3. Cascade 95, 4. Oak Harbor 110, 5. Everett 121, 6. Stanwood 151, 7. Marysville-Pilchuck 160, 8. Arlington 165, 9. Monroe 177.
Scoring runners for top three teams: Lake Stevens—4. Drew Larson 16:41, 5. Scott Larson 16:47, 11. Brandon Martz 17:16, 14. Juan Castillo 17:18, 17. Darin Nettleton 17:27; Snohomish—10. Jason Hippe 17:15, 12. Nick Aldrich 17:16, 19. Jared Lehming 17:33, 23. Cole Whelen 17:36, 31. Jacob Cheek 17:46; Cascade—2. Dylan Hopper 16:17, 16. Chris Settle 17:27, 18. Brayden Shumski 17:32, 29. Alex Bartee 17:45, 30. Aaron Campbell 17:45.
Other top-15 individuals: 1. Tyler King (Oak Harbor) 16:16, 3. Brian Sutter (Monroe) 16:25, 6. Ryan Lanphere (M-P) 16:47, 7. Cody MacDougall (Everett) 17:01, 8. Sean Gregory (Arlington) 17:08, 9. Tadele Dillon (Stanwood) 17:11, 13. Joshua Duhrkopf (Oak Harbor) 17:17, 15. Jesse Van Horn (Monroe) 17:20.
Girls
Team scores: 1. Stanwood 56 points, 2. Snohomish 70, 3. Monroe 82, 4. Arlington 106, 5. Oak Harbor 108, 6. Lake Stevens 146, 7. Marysville-Pilchuck, 8. Cascade 207, 9. Everett 245
Scoring runners for top three teams: Stanwood—3. Natasha Verma 19:20, 4. Jade Borseth 19:20, 8. Minna Fields 19:51, 16. Natalie Bergstrom 20:44, 25. Maddi Davis 21:15; Snohomish—7. Kristi Fairbanks 19:43, 12. Chelsea Bronn 20:17, 14. Sigrid Thoreson 20:18, 18. Maria Ujifusa 21:01, 19. Michelle Bastian 21:04; Monroe—2. Suzanna Ohlsen 19:08, 15. Alex Smargiassi 20:25, 20. Megan Bull 21:06, 22. Becca Cragerud 21:11, 23. Danielle Alden 21:12.
Other top-15 individuals: 1. Lacey Wagner (L. Stevens) 18:56, 5. Breanna Huschka (Cascade) 19:31, 6. Allison Duvenez (Oak Harbor) 19:42, 9. Adrianna Royal (Oak Harbor) 19:57, 10. Samantha Minor (L. Stevens) 20:05, 11. Lauren Ainsworth (M-P) 20:06, 13. Safa Pinkens (Arlington) 20:17.
Note: Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.
