LANGLEY – Runners across the state beware: Snohomish smells a three-peat.

The Snohomish High School girls cross country team triumphed in the Class 4A race Saturday at the District 1 championships. The Panthers’ victory on the 3.1-mile course at South Whidbey High gave them a shot at a third consecutive state title next weekend in Pasco. Snohomish tallied 33 points, followed by Shorewood (102) and Stanwood (107). All three teams advance to state.

Amanda Stopa (19 minutes, 11 seconds) and Kara Sporrong (19:16) took first and second for Snohomish, and teammates Ellie Bonner (sixth, 19:31), Alyssa Modrell (ninth, 19:39) and Rachel Forrest (15th, 20:11) rounded out a speedy top five. “Our team loves this course,” said Stopa, who won the Wesco North championship race last week.

Unlike a week ago when Stopa fell near the end of the race, she had no glitches Saturday. She gained control for good after just a mile. “No one was pushing me. No one wanted to go.”

Snohomish hopes to carry its momentum into state. “We can’t get in any better physical shape,” said Stopa, who hopes to finish among the top 10 next week – she was 10th last year. “We need to be happy. We’re happy to be running and racing.”

Stopa said she tried to spread the joy, at one point encouraging teammate Modrell with some singing. The song: “Happy Together” by The Turtles (Me and you and you and me/No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be/The only one for me is you, and you for me/So happy together).

Snohomish coach Dan Parker said he was happy with his team’s ability to start strong, but not too strong, and then break away at a downhill slope a little over halfway through the race. The pre-race plan nearly worked to perfection.

Now it’s on to state, where No. 2 Snohomish will clash with powerful Bellarmine Prep, currently ranked No. 1 in the state coaches’ poll. “We’re tough,” said Parker, when asked to compare this year’s Panthers to last year’s group that set a state record for fewest points. “I’ve got four girls that are probably running better than they were last year, but we’re not as tough with (runners five through six).”

Other top 4A girls state qualifiers included Edmonds-Woodway’s Kate Southcote-Want (third, 19:19), Stacy Holtmann (fourth, 19:21) and Alyson Piccolo (seventh, 19:34), both of Stanwood, Bailey Granstrom of Lake Stevens (eighth, 19:38), and Shorewood’s Hannah Vietmeier (10th, 19:45).

Freshman Caitlin Ramirez of Cedarcrest won the 3A girls race in 19:24. Ramirez smashed her goal of making the top 20. “I’m really surprised,” said Ramirez, who also won the Cascade Conference championship race last weekend. “I didn’t think I was gonna make it this far.”

Ramirez charged past two Squalicum runners for the victory. “It was a lot harder than (last weekend). Those Squalicum girls are awesome.”

Squalicum (51) was the top team, followed by Sehome (67). Nancy Godsey finished eighth in 20:01 to lead South Whidbey (71), which placed third to qualify for state. Godsey said the pace was about 18 seconds too fast after 1 mile, “but it felt good. We had really good competition. We were really excited.”

South Whidbey’s Katy Gordon (20:08) was 10th.

The King’s girls surged to victory in the 2A race, led by winner Melody Miles (20:06). She pulled away from Blaine and Nooksack Valley runners with about 350 meters to go. King’s won 1A state titles the last three years. Next week they’ll see how they fare against 2A competition.

“Our coaches prepared us really well,” said Miles, whose team took five of the top 13 places. “We believed in ourselves. We just wanted to be joyful.”

Joyful they were, smiling and flexing their muscles for some post-race photos while other not-so-joyful runners gasped for breath.