Coupeville’s King races to 1A victory
Published 8:30 pm Saturday, November 6, 2010
PASCO — Was it an uphill 200-meter dash or a 5-kilometer distance race?
Based on how Tyler King rocketed out of his inside-corner position in the start area and up a grass slope on Saturday, it was hard to tell. The ultra-aggressive King segued his incredibly fast beginning into a dominating victory in the Class 1A boys race during the 2010 state cross country championships at Sun Willows Golf Course.
Competing all season as Coupeville High School’s lone distance runner, King, a senior, punctuated his one-man-show with a stellar performance. He blazed through the first mile in 4 minutes, 53 seconds, pulled away from a handful of early challengers and won the 5K (3.1-mile) race in 15 minutes, 16.9 seconds.
It was the first career state cross country title for King, the defending 1A state track champ in the 1,600 and 3,200 distance events. King’s winning time on Saturday was nearly 31 seconds faster than the time of runnerup Todd Jackson of Elma.
“I was hoping to go under 15 (minutes),” King said, “but I knew it would be hard by myself. But that’s what we’ve been working at the whole year.”
Before this fall, King ran cross country against 4A competition as a member of Oak Harbor High’s team. In 2009, King was the top local finisher in the 4A race, placing fifth in 15:33 while wearing a purple Oak Harbor uniform.
But Oak Harbor discontinued its combined sports agreement with Coupeville before the 2010-2011 school year began, following statewide reclassification that dropped Oak Harbor from 4A to 3A.
The strange result for King: He continued to train with Oak Harbor through a cooperative system but battled 1A foes throughout the postseason.
Even without anyone pushing him beyond the first mile on Saturday, King — wearing a black Coupeville Wolves uniform — ran a time that was comparable to what the big-school race winners recorded later in the day.
“He did exactly what he’s been doing all season: He’s got to go out and run by himself,” Oak Harbor coach Eric Peterson said.
When the gun fired, King made a powerful statement.
“At the start he was like a rocket,” said Peterson. “He was 3 yards ahead of everyone else.”
From there, King kept up a punishing pace and his opponents gradually faded further and further behind. For the last half of the race King was alone, with only the clock in his head motivating him to push harder.
“That shows you how (mentally) tough that kid is,” Peterson said, “and how hard he works.”
Lakeside High won the team title with 83 points. King’s High of Shoreline (133 points) earned the fourth-place trophy, one year after not qualifying for the 16-team field.
King’s junior Hap Emmons (fourth place in 15:53.2) was the Knights’ top individual. Emmons drastically improved on his 2009 performance of ninth place in 16:56.
“I trained a lot harder this summer,” Emmons said, “and it paid off.”
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
