LANGLEY – When you’re used to being on top, you do whatever it takes to avoid falling from that lofty perch.
Just ask the Snohomish High School girls cross country team.
“We have a legacy to hold onto, and when you have that there you don’t want to be the people to let it down,” said Snohomish senior Kara Sporrong.
Sporrong certainly did her part on Saturday at the Class 4A, 3A and 2A District 1 girls cross country championships at South Whidbey High. Sporrong won the 4A race in a championship-record time of 18 minutes, 41 seconds, helping the Panthers win their seventh consecutive district title.
Sporrong ran the same time as Annie Moore of Sehome, who won the 2A race in 18:41 earlier on Saturday.
Snohomish, ranked No. 3 in the latest Washington State Cross Country Coaches’ 4A poll, had three runners place in the top six (Madison Sheppley was fifth and Kristi Fairbanks was sixth). It scored 40 points to beat Marysville-Pilchuck (75) and Edmonds-Woodway (119). All three teams and all other top-15 individual placers qualified for next week’s state meet in Pasco.
Snohomish won without standout Ellie Bonner. The junior tweaked her left calf muscle last weekend en route to a second-place finish behind Sporrong in the divisional championship. Bonner said she didn’t run Saturday to avoid aggravating the problem but she plans to run at state.
Lyndy Davis of Monroe and Bailey Granstrom of Lake Stevens placed second and third, respectively. Davis, a junior, finished the 3.1-mile course in 19:13, Granstrom in 19:17.
Sporrong’s dominant performance impressed Davis. “She’s a great runner. … She’ll do very well at state,” said Davis, who qualified for her second straight trip to Pasco.
Sporrong broke former teammate Amanda Stopa’s course record, which Stopa set last year as a senior. “Amanda had (the record), so that was good motivation,” Sporrong said. “I wanted to go after that. … It’s hard because you want to let (Stopa) have her legacy too, but (we) were always really competitive in a healthy way, so it was cool.”
“(Sporrong) really got after it. That was a good record for her to break,” Snohomish coach Dan Parker said.
Asked about her goals next week, Sporrong said she’ll aim for an individual title and hopes to lead Snohomish to the team crown. Top-ranked Gig Harbor and No. 2 Jefferson are the favorites.
Monroe’s Davis has high hopes too after making her state debut last season. “I’m a little more comfortable with it now,” she said. “There were so many people last year that I’d never raced before, and now I do know what to expect.” Another runner who really knows what to expect is Granstrom. The Lake Stevens athlete will make her fourth state appearance.
“It’s a nice little weight off my shoulders, you know, just having it over with,” Granstrom said of qualifying again. Granstrom said she hopes to place in the top 20.
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