By Chris Trujillo
Herald Writer
LAKEWOOD – You’re not likely to see a lone Snohomish Panther gliding through the course. The odds are, there’s two, three maybe even four or five cross country runners close behind, if not running side-by-side.
Such was the case Thursday, as six Snohomish girls finished in the top 10 to lead the Panthers to victory at the Western Conference North Division championship at Lakewood High School’s 3.07-mile course.
Snohomish’s 30 points stood tall to second-place Marysville-Pilchuck’s 68. Stanwood finished third with 79 points trailed by Arlington (120) and Lake Stevens (152).
Sophomore Ashley Meyer led the Panthers with a strong second-place finish in a time of 19:29, 17 seconds behind eventual champion Bethany Ojalehto (19:12) of Monroe.
“We expected to come in and win,” Snohomish coach Dan Parker said. “We have been mentally down lately. So this is good for us. It brings us up to where we should be.”
Snohomish’s fourth-place finisher Katrina Wiseman (19:45) seventh-place finisher Aimee Spada (19:55) and Meyer surrounded Ojalehto in a tight pack heading into the final 2 miles. But after disappearing into the hills behind the stadium, the group of four turned to two, Meyer and Ojalehto, who broke away from Meyer with roughly a mile and a half remaining.
Jessica Culnane (20:01), Alyssa Modrell (20:01) and Amanda Mowers (20:09) rounded out the Snohomish domination, finishing eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
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