She’s back! Stopa leads Panthers to North title

LAKEWOOD – Amanda Stopa emphatically shouted “I’m back!” as she completed the 3.1-mile cross country course Saturday at Lakewood High School.

Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald Snohomish senior Amanda Stopa rests after winning the girls Wesco North league championship race Saturday afternoon at Lakewood High School. It was the second year in a row that Stopa was crowned the North winner.

Stopa’s statement was intended as a personal commentary, but it also perfectly summed up the performances of the day’s three girls champions. All three race winners – Snohomish’s Stopa in the Western Conference North Division, Edmonds-Woodway’s Kate Southcote-Want in the Wesco South and Cedarcrest’s Caitlin Ramirez in the Cascade Conference – repeated as individual champions.

Saturday’s schedule included three girls varsity races, serving as the individual and league championships for the Wesco North, Wesco South and Cascade Conference.

Stopa, a senior, won in 19 minutes, 15 seconds to help Snohomish surge to a nearly flawless team showing. The Panthers packed five runners in the top seven and claimed the Wesco North team title with 19 points, just four more than a perfect score (The low score wins in cross country). Snohomish’s other top-five performers were all underclassmen: junior Kara Sporrong (second, 19:20), sophomore Ellie Bonner (fourth, 20:01) and freshman Alanna Feltner (fifth, 20:02).

Sophomore Haley Nemra (third, 19:27) ignited Marysville-Pilchuck’s second-place showing. The Tomahawks tallied 63 points.

Stopa’s “I’m back!” outburst referred to the Snohomish runner’s recent struggles, and the resulting stress, that briefly sucked the joy out of running. The low point came last week, when Stopa faded to 18th place at an invite in Oregon. On Saturday, she said she ran for her team instead of herself, and the mental shift worked brilliantly.

“I took all the stress and threw it out the window,” said Stopa, who hopes to run in college and is considering Iona, Portland and Willamette.

Stopa thanked her teammates, coaches and even an opponent – Lake Stevens senior Elise Page – for supporting her during a difficult time. Snohomish coach Dan Parker said he taught Stopa several mental-strengthening exercises that helped her overcome the turmoil.

E-W’s Southcote-Want knows about adversity, too. Last summer, she had an iron deficiency that made her anemic. Her muscles were starved of oxygen, throwing her training regimen – and her well-being – out of whack.

Southcote-Want, a junior, didn’t reach full strength until the second week of the season, but on Saturday she continued her comeback by winning in a Wesco South meet-record time of 19:01, 49 seconds faster than her winning time last year.

“I didn’t have a very good offseason, but I just came back really motivated,” said Southcote-Want, who helped E-W (53 points) take second place behind Shorewood (45).

Southcote-Want distanced herself from second-place Hannah Vietmeier of Shorewood (19:20) in the final mile, calling it her best technical race of the year. Next week, Southcote-Want and Stopa face off at the Class 4A district meet.

Cedarcrest’s Ramirez covered the course in 19:54. Last year as a freshman, Ramirez won by 27 seconds, but Saturday she felt pressure from South Whidbey’s Katy Gordon (second, 20:07), who was just 10 yards behind Ramirez at the 2-mile mark. Gordon’s Eagles won the team crown with 37 points.

Cedarcrest’s Ramirez is expected to qualify for state next week at 3A districts. After that, she’ll try to match or exceed her sixth-place state performance of nearly a year ago. “It’s exciting,” Ramirez said of her progress, “but it’s also a lot of pressure to live up to what people think I should (accomplish).”

At Lakewood High School

3.1 miles

Wesco North

Team scores-1. Snohomish 19, 2. Marysville-Pilchuck 63, 3. Stanwood 77, 4. Lake Stevens 140, 5. Arlington 143, 6. Monroe 162, 7. Oak Harbor 200, 8. Cascade 210, 9. Mount Vernon 211.

Individuals (Top five for top three teams, plus other top-15 runners): Snohomish-1. Stopa 19:15, 2. Sporrong 19:20, 4. Bonner 20:01, 5. Feltner 20:02, 7. Forrest 20:19; M-P-3. Nemra 19:27, 13. Crenshaw 20:59, 14. Schaefer 21:06, 16. Eyre 21:14, 18. Martonik 21:24; Stanwood-8. Buchanan 20:31, 11. Piccolo 20:49, 15. Erickson 21:09, 20. Marriott 21:30, 25. Barnes 21:56. Others: 6. Davis (Monroe) 20:04, 9. Bastian (Snohomish) 20:41, 10. Ujifusa (Snohomish) 20:45, 12. Granstrom (Lake Stevens) 20:58.

Wesco South

Team scores-1. Shorewood 45, 2. Edmonds-Woodway 53, 3. Jackson 60, 4. Kamiak 118, 5. Lynnwood 149, 6. Everett 150, 7. Mariner 172, 8. Meadowdale 206, 9. Mountlake Terrace 237, Shorecrest 242.

Individuals (Top five for top three teams, plus other top-15 runners): Shorewood-2. Vietmeier 19:20, 5. Levy 20:36, 10. Junkinsmith 21:02, 13. Gladow 21:08, 15. Haug 21:09; E-W-1. Southcote-Want 19:01, 7. Wrest 20:51, 11. Nielsen 21:04, 16. Huegli 21:16, 18. Lim 21:26; Jackson-4. Graham 20:17, 6. Sandoval 20:51, 8. Body 20:57, 17. Valera 21:24, 25. Wright 21:59. Others: 3. Anderberg (Kamiak) 20:04, 9. Gerbert (Everett) 20:57, 12. Moore (Everett) 21:08, 14. Boyko (Mariner) 21:09.

Cascade Conference

Team scores-1. South Whidbey 37, 2. Granite Falls 66, 3. King’s 81, 4. Lakewood 97, 5. Archbishop Murphy 131, 6. Cedarcrest 143, 7. Sultan 171.

Individuals (Top five for top three teams, plus other top-15 runners): S. Whidbey-2. Gordon 20:07, 4. Habel 20:46, 6. Bakeman 20:55, 8. Johnson 21:08, 17. Bosman 22:20; G. Falls-3. Jensen 20:17, 10. Marino 21:30, 14: Anderson 21:57, 19. Foster 22:29, 20. Costigan 22:30; King’s-5. Thomas 20:53, 12. Snyder 21:46, 13. Eslinger 21:51, 25. Strand 22:57, 26. Kennel 22:57. Others: 7. Gogert (Lakewood) 21:03, 9. Moran (Archbishop Murphy) 21:09, 11. Dunn (Lakewood) 21:35, 15. Sandoval (Archbishop Murphy) 22:03.