A year ago, the Mountlake Terrace girls cross country team surprised some by finishing fifth at the 3A state meet. Saturday, the Hawks proved it was no fluke as they finished second behind Holy Names in this year’s state championship.
The Hawks finished with 109 points, 26 points behind Holy Names.
Mountlake Terrace might not have won, but you wouldn’t have known from talking to its head coach Todd Weber.
“Just off the charts,” Weber said of how he was feeling. “Sky high.”
With all the success the Hawks have had in the past two seasons, the one thing they hadn’t done other than win a state championship was place above Wesco powerhouse Glacier Peak – until Saturday.
The Hawks finished 34 points better than the Grizzlies, who finished third after winning back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013.
“They’ve been fuel for our run and we’ve been fuel for their run,” Weber said. “They ran good today. We’ve helped each other out along the way. To beat a program like that is one of the reasons we are as sky high as we are, because they’re amazing.”
Weber said Glacier Peak head coach Dan Parker has been nothing but supportive as the Hawks have also risen to become a state power in the past two seasons.
“Coach Parker has always been very complimentary of what we’re doing and likewise we respect the heck out of them because they do it right,” Weber said.
The Hawks were ranked in the top-five coming into the race by the state’s coaches, but were helped by the fact that each of their runners who scored all set personal bests by an average of about 20 seconds.
One of those runners was junior Ella Schroth, who challenged sophomore teammate Katherine Gustafson for the team’s highest finish.
“We knew (she) had that big race coming, but we didn’t know when it was coming,” Weber said. “She picked the right time to do it.”
Gustafson finished ninth in 18:36.48, while Schroth was 11th in 18:37.60.
“We’ve talked all year about not feeling threatened by our teammates,” Weber said. “I think Gustafson, to her credit, when Ella came, she didn’t look at Ella and go, ‘Oh crud, what am I doing wrong.’ It was, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got a person on my team that’s going to (help us win).’ It was just used as motivation.”
The highest local finisher was Lynnwood junior Mikayla Pivec, who finished eighth with a time of 18:31.33. Glacier Peak’s Heidi Smith was the Grizzlies highest finisher with a time of 18:54.36, good for 15th place.
Weber also raved about his No. 3 runner, junior Katherine Walter, who ran a career-best 19:08.82 and placed 22nd.
“Katherine Walter had a huge race today,” Weber said. “Our number three and our number four, Katherine and Jessica Ong, were pretty much money as far as why we did what we did.”
Walter said the friendly competition with Glacier Peak was a motivating factor for her and her teammates.
“It’s been extremely helpful because that’s what’s pushed us so hard,” Walter said. “To finally (beat Glacier Peak) this year, it hasn’t hit me. It’s really cool.”
Weber said the goal coming in was to win the race.
“We talked about dreaming a little bit and not setting limits,” Weber said. “We felt like if we put together THAT race, then we could take this thing.”
With most of the girls returning, Mountlake Terrace is likely to be in contention for the championship again next season – along with Glacier Peak.
Jackson’s Kingma places 7th
Jackson senior Brooke Kingma finished her career on a high note, placing seventh at Saturday’s 4A state meet — the highest finish of her career.
“I had my eyes on placing like this all season and the fact that it’s finally come true, it’s just awesome,” Kingma said.
Kingma finished with a time of 18:06.99, nearly a minute behind the champion, Richland’s Lindsey Bradley, and behind a group of four girls that placed second through fifth within 18 seconds of each other.
“I knew there was going to be a few girls that were really going to be able to go at it from the start,” Kingma said. “I knew that if I went out with them I probably wouldn’t be able to be in the top couple, but I was just going to let them go and just stay in that lead pack and just grit my teeth and not let them get away. That was my plan and it executed perfectly.”
Behind the top-five, Kingma and Skyline’s Maizy Brewer were left to fight it out for sixth place. Brewer edged Kingma by .27 seconds.
“I told myself that this was the race that I was going to give it all I had,” Kingma said. “I’ve been saving that kick all season and it’s never hurt so good.”
Along with being the highest state finish of her career, it was the second best time Kingma has ever ran.
“She had a fabulous season and she crushed it today,” Jackson head coach Eric Hruschka said.
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
Girls Results
(Team scores and local finishers)
Class 4A
1. Camas 64, 2. Issaquah 91, 3. Tahoma 100, 4. Skyline 163, 5. Bellarmine Prep 164, 6. Central Valley 194, 7. Inglemoor 207, 8. Eisenhower 212, 9. Lewis and Clark 218, 10. Olympia 240, 11. Union 247, 12. Snohomish 265, 13. Gig Harbor 327, 14. Puyallup 358, 15. Stadium 368, 16. West Valley-Yakima 402.
Jackson—7. Brooke Kingma 18:06.99, 64. Cole Gross 19:36.79, 107. Emily Hylland 20:29.71.
Mariner—21. Abbie Steinhauer 18:33.16
Snohomish—24. Kyla Shade 18:43.10, 29. Bri Gibson 18:51.94, 80. Katie Brandvold 19:53.69, 111. Elita Tippett 20:40.11, 116. Cassie Swartzell 20:48.99.
Kamiak—95. Nicole Vijgen 20:09.07.
Class 3A
1. Holy Names Academy 83, 2. Mountlake Terrace 109, 3. Glacier Peak 143, 4. Ballard 155, 5. Mt. Spokane 175, 6. Lakeside 175, 7. Garfield 184, 8. Mercer Island 196, 9. Kamiakin 203, 10. Capital 210, 11. Prairie 262, 12. Enumclaw 266, 13. Central Kitsap 271, 14. Lake Washington 285, 15. Arlington 318, 16. Columbia River 374.
Lynnwood—8. Mikayla Pivec 18:31.33.
Mountlake Terrace—9. Katherine Gustafson 18:36.48, 11. Ella Schroth 18:37.60, 22. Katherine Walter 19:08.82, 27. Jessica Ong 19:21.69, 84. Marika Jamtaas 20:25.63, 117. Sophia Nelson 21:11.92, 143. Maddie Dellinger 22:58.33.
Oak Harbor—12. Jonalynn Horn 18:47.32, 131. Laura Rodeheffer 21:49.39.
Glacier Peak—15. Heidi Smith 18:54.36, 24. Katherine Dittmann 19:17.83, 49. Natalie Church 19:50.11, 57. Hannah Graves 20:02.01, 62. Maiti Hunter 20:05.20, 90. Erin Boyle 20:32.40, 121. Haley Longstreth 21:19.91.
Stanwood—34. Caroline Dolan 19:30.31.
Everett—47. Drew Williams 19:48.86.
Shorewood—58. Brianna McGrath 20:02.74 Arlington—75. Shanelle Shirey 20:17.20, 85. Emma Janousek 20:26.13, 91. Cassidy Rude 20:37.26, 94. Marie Gaudin 20:42.19, 100. Mary Andrews 20:46.77, 113. Sidney Trinidad 21:07.42, 137. Katie Taylor 22:19.40.
Class 2A
1. Sehome 50, 2. Bellingham 85, 3. Liberty-Issaquah 106, 4. Pullman, 5. Tumwater, 6. Sedro-Woolley 185, 7. Ephrata 216, 8. Ellensburg 232, 9. Cheney 259, 10. Lindbergh 263, 11. Steilacoom 269, 12. White River 299, 13. Port Angeles 307, 14. Renton 308, 15. Ridgefield 322, 16. Washougal 338.
Shorecrest—12. Gigi Vujovich 19:17.95.
Lakewood—38. Keely Hall 20:03.88.
Class 1A
1. Lakeside 49, 2. Northwest 61, 3. Lynden Christian 120, 4. Riverside 133, 5. Zillah 195, 6. Meridian 196, 7. Eatonville 201, 8. Chelan 234, 9. Royal 237, 10. La Center 247, 11. King’s 252, 12. Montesano 261, 13. Mt. Baker 263, 14. Forks 338, 15. Vashon Island 350, 16. Seattle Christian 384.
South Whidbey—13. Mallorie Mitchem 19:52.02
King’s—46. Krystal Brodsky 21:03.08, 51. Gillian Edgar 21:06.92, 71. Rachel Mills 21:29. 08, 75. Allison Perrow 21:36.81, 96. Sonja Barreto 22:21.42, 113. Lily Kleven 23:11.55.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
