PASCO — Luke Schmidt put an exclamation mark on his success-filled prep cross country career.
And he validated his spot among the state’s best.
The Shorecrest senior standout claimed a fourth-place medal in the Class 3A boys race at Saturday’s cross country state championships, completing the hilly 5,000-meter race at Sun Willows Golf Course in 15 minutes, 51.4 seconds.
“It was so awesome just to have (that) culmination of all four years,” Schmidt said. “To finally see it peak and come to a nice crescendo like that is just so nice — to know that it all paid off and that I was able to take all my hard work and training and execute a good race.”
For Schmidt, the top-five state medal was the pinnacle of an accomplishment-laden past two seasons.
Over that span, he broke the 16-minute mark 10 times and the 15:35 mark three times. He cruised to last week’s 3A District 1 title. He was last year’s district runner-up.
Just about the only missing piece was a high finish at state. He didn’t perform as well as he wanted to in last year’s state debut, when he just barely missed the podium with an 18th-place finish.
But on Saturday, despite battling a strong headwind for much of the race, Schmidt ran 31.6 seconds faster than he did at last year’s state meet.
And in doing so, he posted the seventh-fastest time across all five of the state boys races.
“I went out probably way too fast my junior year,” he said. “So this year I went out a bit more conservatively and then built my way up, since I was a lot more comfortable with how I could pace myself. And I just knew myself as a runner a lot better this year.”
Schmidt spent most of the race in third or fourth place. He finished just 0.2 seconds Bishop Blanchet sophomore Vincent Recupero, who took third.
According to Shorecrest coach Shane Peterson, Schmidt’s fourth-place medal marked the program’s best best state finish by a boys runner since 1984.
“It’s been a great season for him and he’s had an incredible career at Shorecrest,” Peterson said. “He’s definitely one of the best Shorecrest boys runners ever.
“It’s been amazing coaching him,” he added. “He’s just such a great kid. … He’s so talented and works so, so hard.”
SNOHOMISH STANDOUT EARNS ANOTHER TOP STATE MEDAL
Snohomish junior Paige Gerrard (right) placed fourth in the 3A girls race to earn her second consecutive state medal. (TJ Mullinax / For The Herald)
Paige Gerrard was determined to move up the state podium.
With a strong closing kick, she did just that.
The Snohomish junior standout passed two runners down the closing stretch and claimed her second consecutive state medal, placing fourth in the 3A girls race with a time of 18:48.1.
It was a two-spot improvement from last year, when she placed sixth in her state debut.
“I didn’t exactly want to stay in sixth place,” she said. “Moving two places up was just a super big accomplishment for me.”
With about 200 meters to go, Gerrard was in sixth place. And facing a strong headwind coming down the final hill toward the finish line, it was going to be tough for her to move up.
But she kicked it into high gear and burst past a pair of runners — including Franklin junior Sabrina Colbert, who she beat by just 0.2 seconds for fourth place.
“I was gonna settle for sixth until one of my coaches just said, ‘Hey, she’s right there. You can go get her if you hit it now,’” Gerrard said. “And (that) just pushed me forward.
“It was windy, it was tough and I felt like I was gonna die. (But) just getting through that mental block really helped push me to take fourth place instead of sixth.”
Given the windy conditions, Snohomish coach Dave Weller said it was the best finish he’d seen from Gerrard.
“It was into the strongest headwind I’ve ever seen (at state),” Weller said. “And she just crushed it.”
For Gerrard, it was yet another major milestone in what’s already been a decorated prep career.
She’s cruised to each of the past two 3A District 1 titles. She’s broken the 19-minute mark 10 times over the past two seasons, including four sub-18:30 times this fall. She now owns a pair of top-six state medals.
And with one year left, she still has time to accomplish even more.
“We want to bring that success into the track season and really help her have a successful spring season,” Weller said. “And then just have that propel to an awesome fall, where she can move up even further on that podium at state next year.”
LAKE STEVENS TEAMS HAVE STRONG SHOWINGS
The Vikings earned a sixth-place team finish in the 4A boys race. (TJ Mullinax/The Herald)
Lake Stevens had a strong day on both the boys and girls sides.
The Vikings boys took sixth place in the 4A team standings, while placing all five of their scoring runners in the top 70 and three in the top 40. Senior Jakob Broadbent placed 14th (16:30.6), junior Anthony Long finished 27th (16:48.2) and senior Ammon Wagner came in 39th (16:53.2).
The Vikings girls took eighth place in the 4A team standings, which marked their fourth top-10 team finish in the past five state meets. They were led by a trio of top-50 finishers. Senior Ella Edens placed 22nd (19:35.2), sophomore Hallie Carroll finished 40th (19:59.9) and senior Alexis Buhman came in 48th (20:11.3).
CASCADE RUNNER WINS AMBULATORY TITLE
Cascade freshman Jacob Hopkins won the boys ambulatory race title with a winning time of 14:13.0. He finished 43.8 seconds ahead of the next-closest competitor in the seven-runner field.
OTHER TOP LOCAL FINISHERS
— Jackson junior Emma Hamm took 12th place in the 4A girls race (19:09.3).
— The Shorewood boys placed ninth in the 3A team standings. They had four top-75 finishers, led by junior Keiyu Mamiya in 48th place (17:07.0).
— Cedarcrest put a pair of runners on the podium. London Haley, a senior, placed 12th in the 2A boys race (16:40.1). Lydia Swenson, a freshman, finished 13th in the 2A girls race (19:48.1).
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