Stanwood girls wants to build on district cross country title

LANGLEY — Every year at the 4A District 1 cross country championship Stanwood coach Jordan Sneva has a simple tradition that he follows.

He eats a Butterfinger candy bar.

After his team’s performance Saturday, it’s unlikely that he will be switching to Baby Ruth any time soon.

The Stanwood girls led by top finisher Minna Fields cruised to a first-place team finish 64 points ahead of second-place Arlington.

“It was a total team effort,” Sneva said. “I think this is a stepping stone toward their goal as a team.”

Fields had no trouble outkicking Lake Stevens’ Samantha Minor, who finished in second place 15 seconds behind the Stanwood junior. Stanwood’s Natasha Verma took third eight seconds behind Minor.

“She is a good ringleader,” Sneva said about Fields. “It’s nice to have a girl lead the whole pack for you.”

The seventh-ranked Spartans are excited about the victory, but aren’t satisfied with the district crown.

“Next week we are going to come back and do something big,” Fields said. “Something special.”

Lake Stevens’ Minor ran a solid race on the 3.1-mile muddy course, but her performance alone was not enough to send the Vikings to the next level at the State meet in Pasco next week. Oak Harbor knocked out Lake Stevens by a single point in by far the closest competition of the day.

“We were sweating in the very end,” Oak Harbor coach Eric Peterson said. “We really thought we were fourth.”

The Wildcats showed that sometimes the cross country team event is not always about the fastest girl.

“Christina Wichers had the race of her life today,” Peterson said. “ That would be the difference.”

Wichers, the Wildcats’ third finisher, closed past four runners on the final stretch to take 28th place. If the freshman finished five seconds later, Lake Stevens would be making its travel plans for Pasco.

Glacier Peak girls win 2nd district championship

With peril at every turn in the wettest race of the day, Stephanie Jones fell victim to crazy conditions.

With less than a half-mile to go, Jones and her nationally ranked Glacier Peak girls cross country team were on their way to a sweep at the Class 3A Northwest District Championships. But Jones, a much-improved senior, slipped on a turn and crashed hard to the muddy grass.

In fifth place at the time, Jones popped up quickly but was passed by Mount Vernon’s Tessa Murray. Murray finished fifth, Jones sixth. But Glacier Peak — a second-year program — still decisively won its second straight district title.

Ahead of Jones, Glacier Peak runners placed first through fourth, led by winner Amy-Eloise Neale. After winning last week’s Wesco South championship race, Neale won the 3.1-mile district race in 18:49.19. She helped Glacier Peak tally 16 team points, one shy of a perfect score.

“It was there,” Glacier Peak coach Dan Parker said of the Grizzlies’ shot at a one-through-five sweep. “It was going to happen, but on that turn Stephanie did a complete somersault and lost momentum.”

To her credit, Jones bounced back and finished in 19:51.93, about seven seconds behind Mount Vernon’s Murray.

“It’s really muddy and (slippery) everywhere, especially back in the woods,” Jones said. “There’s two huge potholes in the woods. You have to go around them and it’s no fun.”

Glacier Peak, No. 22 in the DyeStat Elite/ESPN RISE FAB 50 national rankings and No. 1 in the 3A state coaches’ poll, qualified for the state meet (Nov. 7 in Pasco). Other local individual state qualifiers were Everett’s Chelsea Dowdell (seventh) and Shorecrest’s Danielle Lyons (ninth).

Besides Neale and Jones, Glacier Peak’s top finishers were Katie Bianchini (second), Sarah Whybark (third) and Brenna Condon (fourth). Neale finished about 28 seconds before Bianchini.

Alexander paces 2A girls

The 2A girls were the first brave souls to venture onto the South Whidbey High track and it quickly became apparent that running conditions were less than ideal. As the girls started, dozens of puddles splashed while the 86 competitors tried to get separation from each other.

Granite Falls freshman Rhiannon Alexander didn’t start in front but quickly got separation from the other girls and finished well ahead of the pack in 19:12.32 — her personal best time.

Alexander pushed hard until the end despite finishing significantly ahead of Sehome’s Annie Moore who finished in second place at 19:24.57.

“I thought she was right behind me,” Alexander said.

Cedarcrest’s Cara Strodel finished third at 19:28.57.

Despite chopping seconds off her best time in conditions that she described as “really puddily,” Alexander thinks her best race is still in front of her at the state meet.

“I want to try and beat 19 (minutes),” she said.

In the team competition, Lakewood squeaked into the final qualifying spot to state just ahead of Squalicum.

“This very well could have been the state meet today,” Lakewood co-head coach Jeff Sowards said. “The girls ran really well. It was one of our better runs of the season. The second half of the race we ran as well as anybody.”

Cedarcrest captured the district championship for the second straight year with a 21-point advantage over Sehome.

At South Whidbey H.S.

3.1 miles, 5,000 meters

4A team scores (top three teams, top 15 individuals qualified for state)—1. Stanwood 54. 2. Arlington 118; 3. Oak Harbor 134; 4. Lake Stevens 135; 5. Jackson 148; 6. Shorewood 156; 7. Snohomish 157; 8. Edmonds-Woodway 163; 9. Kamiak 189; 10. Monroe 211; 11. Mountlake Terrace 242; 12. Marysville-Pilchuck 251; 13. Mariner 429; 14. Cascade 444.

Stanwood—1. Minna Fields 18.58; 3. Natasha Verma 19:21; 9. Jordin Stephenson 19:46; 24. Jade Borseth 20:30; 41. Maddi Davis 20:39.

Arlington—4. Teresa Wadey 19:26; 24. Katie Anderson 20:42; 27. Safa Pinkens 20:47; 29. Kristin Wreggelsworth 20:57; 34. Bryna Prause.

Oak Harbor—6. Allison Duvenez 19:34; 7. Adrianna Royal 19.38; 28. Christina Wichers 20:53; 44. Jessica Denmon 21:28; 49. Abigail Leete 21:48.

Other state meet qualifiers—2. Samantha Minor (LS) 19:13; 5. Nina Penner (MLT) 19:34; 8. Betsie Hopper (EW) 19:41; 9. Suzanna Ohlsen (MON) 19:28; 11. Stephanie Moore (K) 19:56; 12. Charlee Linton (SHO) 20:04; 13. Kelsey Fruland (J) 20:12; 14. Nikole Mulligan (LS) 20:14; 15. Rachel Lefstad (MP) 20:18.

3A team scores (Top two teams, top 10 individuals qualified for state—1. Glacier Peak 16 points, 2. Mount Vernon 87, 3. Sedro-Woolley 100, 4. Shorecrest 109, 5. Everett 137, 6. Meadowdale 140, 7. Ferndale 160, 8. Lynnwood 178.

Glacier Peak: 1. Amy-Eloise Neale 18:49.19, 2. Katie Bianchini 19:17.23, 3. Sarah Whybark 19:33.77, 4. Brenna Condon 19:36.52, 6. Stephanie Jones 19:51.93.

Other local state meet qualifiers: 7. Chelsea Dowdell (Everett) 20:16.42, 9. Danielle Lyons (Shorecrest) 20:46.74.

2A team scores (top four teams, top 20 individuals qualified for state)—1. Cedarcrest 59 2. Sehome 80; 3. Bellingham 96; 4. Lakewood 109; 5. Squalicum 125; 6. Archbishop Murphy 186; 7. South Whidbey 199; 8. Burlington-Edison 212; 9. Blaine 241; 10. Granite Falls 245; 11. Mt. Baker 275; 12. Lynden 322; 13. Anacortes 342.

Cedarcrest— 3. Cara Strodel 19:28.57; 11. Missy Dowd 19:57.41 14. Desiree’ Nieblas 20:19.41; 17. Tia Smith 20:30.98;18. Brenna Eldredge

Lakewood—5. Chelsea Stokes 19:37.77; 12. Rachel Cundy 20:07.08; 22. Chelsea Sowards 20:53.78; 32. Tasha Bartol 21:24.56 42. Amber Burnell 21:56.95

Other state meet qualifiers—9. Rici Morrill (Sultan) 19:46.20 15. Michaela Bartz (Archbishop Murphy) 20:21.25

For complete results go to Athletic.net.