South Whidbey second on third straight tiebreaker

Giswold leads Falcons by finishing 2nd

By AARON COE

Herald Writer

PASCO — Runners from the South Whidbey team may never wear ties again.

They’ve had about enough of them.

It was no surprise to the Falcons that a tiebreaker determined the Class 2A state cross country championship on Saturday, and that South Whidbey was pushed into second place.

Two weeks ago, the Falcons tied Lakewood at the North Cascades meet and lost on a tiebreaker, which is determined by the respective places of each team’s No. 6 runner. Last week, South Whidbey and the Cougars tied again and the Falcons ended up second. Again.

This time it wasn’t Lakewood, which finished fourth. East Valley and South Whidbey both compiled 113 points, but the tiebreaker went against the Falcons for the third straight week.

"I’m happy with the way our team ran," said Braden Giswold, who finished second to East Valley’s Matt Owens. "East Valley has a great team. These guys from the east have some great runners."

South Whidbey’s Bruce Hymas finished fourth on the 3.1-mile Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. Teammate Brett Perkins was 12th. Freshman James Sundquist finished 49th. And sophomore Andy Wills was 82nd to help the Falcons finish second.

"I think East Valley kind of deserved it," said Hymas, referring to an East Valley runner who was unable to finish the race because of injury. "They’re very strong."

Had Arman Mohsenian, who was EV’s No. 4 runner at last week’s bi-district meet, been able to complete his race, East Valley likely would have won outright.

Though the Cougars didn’t beat South Whidbey on a tiebreaker, they did get fourth place that way. Only 19 points separated the top five teams. Elma finished fifth because Lakewood’s Jeff Brown’s place was higher than Elma’s No. 6 runner.

Lakewood placed only one competitor in the top 30 — Perry McConnell led the Cougars with a 14th place finish — but Andy Dewey, Mark Dewey, Sam Robles and Cameron Hartman all finished in the top 50.

"Hats off to East Valley," Lakewood coach Mike Evans said. "Perry ran very well. We’re very pleased with all our guys."

Western Conference 3A foes Jackson and Stanwood have been close all year, and it was no different in the Class 3A state race.

Only three points separated the teams. Jackson, which was led by the 15th-place finish of Evan Wirkkala, was third behind Seattle Prep and Bishop Blanchet. Stanwood’s Nick Cairus, who finished ninth, helped the Spartans earn a fourth-place trophy.

"We wanted to come in here and win," Wirkkala said. "But, then again, we didn’t even make it here last year, so this feels pretty good."

Jackson did what it has done all year. The Timberwolves ran in a pack. Wirkkala pulled away from the group, but only 15 seconds separated Devin Paschke, Matt Curry, Jordan Hamm and Corey Nuro as Jackson won its first-ever cross country trophy.

The Stanwood team of Cairus, Sean Smith, Derek Fekkes, Andy Wilson and John Hallman — all juniors — were ranked No. 10 coming into the state meet, but managed the highest boys place in school history.

"We are very pleased," Stanwood coach Paul Johnson said. "Our top three guys ran their best races of the year, and that’s what you hope for at the state meet."

Snohomish did not have a runner in the top 20, but the eighth-ranked Panthers made a strong showing with a sixth-place finish in the Class 4A competition. A.J. White, Jimmie Poier and Stevie Blackburn were all among the first 30 of the 150 runners to cross the finish line. Shorecrest, which upset Snohomish at the bi-district meet a week ago, was seventh. Marysville-Pilchuck finished 10th. Cascade’s Andy Fader, who out-leaned Oak Harbor’s Scott Sebens for 15th, was the top Western Conference 4A runner.

At Sun Willows Golf Course 3.1 miles Class 4A Team scores—1. Mead 95, 2. University 107, 3. Mount Spokane 113, 4. Kent-Meridian 116, 5. Ferris 117, 6. Snohomish 171, 7. Shorecrest 219, 8. Puyallup 231, 9. Gig Harbor 238, 10. Marysville-Pilchuck 282, 11. Olympia 294, 12. Auburn 294, 13. Port Angeles 296, 14. Battle Ground 311, 15. Edmonds-Woodway 331, 16. Kelso 356. Top 10 individuuals—1. Kiter (Shadle Park) 15:55, 2. C. Fayant (Mead), 3. J. Fayant (Mead), 4. Bailey (Kentwood), 5. LeCount (Battle Ground), 6. Lancaster (University), 7. Zehe (Kelso), 8. Fredrickson (Roosevelt), 9. Stum (University), 10. Ice (Ferris). Other area runners—15. Fader (Cascade), 22. White (Snohomish), 24. Poier (S), 29. Blackburn (S), 34. Walsh (SC), 36. Whitaker (Marysville-Pilchuck), 42. Mandi (Mariner), 43. Hansen (SC), 53. Robinson (Edmonds-Woodway), 58. Cottrell (Shorecrest), 65. McCann (Woodinville), 66. Hayman (M-P), 72. Pelland (SC), 76. Bala (S), 82. Boyd (Kamiak), 83. Searing (E-W), 91. Tenbrink (M-P), 92. Roache (S), 95.Christensen (M-P), 99. Matthews (E-W), 100. Khalsa (SC), 101. Brandt (S), 104. Garrett (K), 106. Goiney (Shorewood), 108. McCulloch (S), 110. Brancheau (E-W), 116. Robinson (SC), 118. Brown (M-P), 120. Brown (M-P), 124. Pankiewicz (K), 129. Erickson (E-W), 131. Skay (M-P), 133. Robinson (E-W), 136. Robison (SC), 150. Dill (E-W). Team scores—1. Seattle Prep 90, 2.Blanchet 97, 3.Jackson 135, 4. Stanwood 138, 5. Issaquah 185, 6. Lakes 188, 7. Selah 194, 8. Lakeside 204, 9. Eastmont 209, 10. Anacortes 222, 11. Everett 223, 12. Columbia River 273, 13. Haxen 296, 14. Yelm 343, 15. Camas 392, 16. Skyview 411. Top 10 individuals—1. Heidt (Selah), 16:25, 2. Gray (Lakes), 3.Conrick (Cedarcreat), 4. Sayenko (Sammamish), 5. Reynolds (Nathan Hale) 6. Mull (Blanchet), 7. Hinckley (Hazen), 8. Skelton (Mount Vernon), 9. Cairus (Stanwood), 10. Greenman (Colville). Other area runners—15. Wirkkala (Jackson), 20. Pruden (Everett), 21. Mittleman (Lynnwood), 26. Smith (Stanwood), 29. Fekkes (Stanwood), 41. Paschke (Jackson), 46. Bjella (Everett), 47. Mattix (Squalicum), 48. Walkingshaw (Lynnwood), 50. Shimer (Meadowdale), 54. Curry (Jackson), 56. Hamm (Jackson), 65. Nuro (Jackson), 76. Wilson (Stanwood), 79. Haynes (Jackson), 85. Hallman (Stanwood), 90. Roberts (Everett), 95. Renfrow (Jackson), 96. Terry (Everett), 100. Viger (Everett), 104. Pruden (Everett), 105. Resetar (Stanwood), 137. Lee (Everett), 138. Poh (Stanwood). Team scores—1. East Valley 113, 2. South Whidbey 113, 3. Naches 118, 5. Lakewood 132, 5. Elma 132, 6. Ephrata 141, 7. Port Townsend 205, 8. Omak 210, 9. Lakeside 213, 10. Pullman 226, 11. Cashmere 235, 12. Riverside 246, 13. Steilacoom 272, 14. Forks 322, 15. Washougal 377, 16. La Center 405. Top 10 individuals—1. Owens (East Valley), 16:25, 2. Giswold (South Whidbey), 3. Murphy (East Valley), 4. Hymas (South Whidbey), 5. Axtman (Elma), 6. Farcy (Vashon), 7. Mitchell (Mount Baker), 8. Haskins (Port Townsend), 9. Chapman (Ilwaco), 10. Hassler (Riverside). Other area runners—12. Perkins (South Whidbey), 14. McConnell (Lakewood), 26. Van Etten (Steilacoom), 28. Matter (Lynded Christian), 33. A. Dewey (Lakewood), 34. M. Dewey (Lakewood), 39. Robles (Lakewood), 49. Sundquist (South Whidbey), 59. Hartman (Lakewood), 67. Brown (Lakewood), 82. Willis (South Whidbey), 83. Anderson (Mount Baker), 88. Thomas (Lakewood), 96. Hollo (Granite Falls), 115. Hein (South Whidbey).