LANGLEY – Where one streak ends a new one begins.
Last year the South Whidbey Falcons girls cross country team finished fourth at the Class 3A District 1 championships, falling one spot short of qualifying for the state meet. The loss also snapped the Falcons remarkable streak of 16 straight state appearances. This year the Falcons dropped to 2A and a new streak began.
Running on their home course at South Whidbey High School, the Falcons finished third at the 2A District 1 championships, qualifying for next Saturday’s state-meet at Pasco.
“We missed out last year so we start a new streak this year,” South Whidbey coach Doug Fulton said.
Led by senior Katy Gordon, the Falcons finished with 78 points, six shy of second-place Bellingham.
“One of our goals was to try to beat Bellingham,” Fulton said.
Bellingham is ranked No. 2 in the latest Washington State Cross Country Coaches’ 2A poll. The Falcons are currently ranked No. 4.
Gordon, a state qualifier last year, finished sixth with a time of 19 minutes, 43 seconds. It wasn’t her best time but it was good enough for a return trip to state.
“That’s all that matters,” Gordon said about qualifying, “I was really tired and I wasn’t being that competitive. I don’t know why.”
But racing at home gives you a slight advantage and allows the Falcons runners to anticipate changes in the course.
“You know where everything is and you have a lot more people cheering for you,” Gordon added.
The Falcons also got help from their Nos. 2 and 3 runners, Erica Johnson and Caroline Habel.
Johnson finished 11th at 20:13 and Habel at 13th with a time of 20:17.
“Our number 2 and 3 ran their best records of the year. The top five ran really well,” Fulton said.
The Lakewood Cougars are also making a return trip to the state championships. Led by senior Corrine Gogert and junior Sarah Dunn, the Cougars finished fourth with 126 points.
“We raced well, Sehome ran great, Bellingham was solid and South Whidbey ran a solid race,” Lakewood coach Jeff Sowards said.
Sehome was great. The No. 1 ranked team in state finished with 35 points and had four girls in the top 10, including freshman Annie Moore, who placed first with a championship record time of 18:41.
The top three teams qualify for the state-meet with the top individuals qualifying. Other local state qualifers were Archbishop Murphy’s Lauren Moran and Shelby Lyman and Cedarcrest’s Caitlin Ramirez.
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