Top 2 runners help Jackson take title

SEATTLE — The Jackson Timberwolves boys cross country team took home a championship at the Kingco-Wesco bi-district meet, while the Jackson girls earned a third-place finish on Saturday at Lincoln Park.

Despite the victory, Jackson boys coach Eric Hrushka was a bit disappointed.

“Actually I thought we ran really poor and I didn’t think we won,” Hrushka said. “I’m very surprised by the results and the guys are pretty down about it. Team performance-wise it was probably our worst race of the season.

It may not have been the Timberwolves best run of the year, but it was still good enough for a win and a trip to the Class 4A state meet in Pasco next Saturday. Jackson’s 93 points were still 32 points better than Skyline, its nearest competition.

The Timberwolves were helped by the performances of their top two runners. Freshman Aaron Roe finished with a time of 15 minutes, 50 seconds, good enough for third overall and senior Blake Nelson finished eighth in 16:06.

“Aaron Roe runs fabulous,” Hrushka said. “He runs his best race of the season. And Blake Nelson runs his best race of the season. So, our 1 and 2 run their best and that keeps you in the game.”

Qualifying along with Jackson was Kamiak, which finished third with 129 points. Lake Stevens finished sixth, just nine points away from qualifying for state.

“I thought Kamiak ran their best race of the season and I thought they might have won it with the way (its) three front guys ran so strong,” Hrushka said.

Aside from the runners at Jackson and Kamiak, seven other runners from the Wesco advanced to the state meet as individuals.

Hrushka said he hopes that the Timberwolves run well as a unit next week.

“We really would love to go in and run a really solid team race,” Hrushka said. “I think if they do that they are going to get a trophy at the state meet.”

The Wesco had three girls teams which qualified for the state.

The Snohomish Panthers finished second with 91 points, Jackson was right on the Panthers heels with 92 points and Stanwood took the fifth and final team slot into the state meet with 155 points.

Young runners shone for both Snohomish and Jackson. Jackson freshman Brooke Kingma finished in third place in 18:43, while Snohomish freshman Bri Gibson finished sixth in 18:59.

Snohomish head coach David LeWarne was all smiles when talking about his freshman Gibson.

“She is tough as nails and she has really answered the call of being a solid No. 1 runners,” LeWarne said.

The Panthers, who were largely unproven when the season began are now on the way to state for the first time since 2008.

“Overall I’ve been happy with how things have gone,” LeWarne said. “They’ve really created their own identity.”

Along with the teams from Snohomish, Jackson and Stanwood, Kamiak’s Tiana Roe, Monroe’s Megan Bull and Edmonds-Woodway’s Megan Alfi qualified for state as individuals.

At Lincoln Park, Seattle

Boys team scores

(Top five qualify for state)

1. Jackson 93, Skyline 125, 3. Kamiak 129, 4. Garfield 146, 5. Redmond 189, 6. Lake Stevens 198, 7. Snohomish 204, 8. Bothell 209, 9. Inglemoor 210, 10. Eastlake 218, 11. Stanwood 247, 12. Cascade 249, 13. Roosevelt 289, 14. Newport 295, 15. Edmonds-Woodway 305, 16. Arlington 407.

Local state qualifiers

(Top 25 qualify for state)

3. Aaron Roe (Jackson) 15:50; 6. Steven Statham (Cascade) 16:04; 7. Ryan Bradford (Kamiak) 16:05; 8. Blake Nelson (Jackson) 16:06; 13. Jack Griffing (Edmonds-Woodway) 16:09; 16. Wade Weinert (Stanwood) 16:10; 17. Austin Wood (Monroe) 16:13; 18. Jerry Behrens (Kamiak) 16:14; 19. Tomislav Smith (Kamiak) 16:15; 20. Mason Nicol (Lake Stevens) 16:16; 21. Zach Bush (Lake Stevens) 16:16; 22. Scott Schmitt (Lake Stevens) 16:18; 25. Collin Holman (Jackson) 16:23.

Girls team scores

(Top 5 qualify for state)

1. Redmond 72, 2. Snohomish 91, 3. Jackson 92, 4. Issaquah 136, 5. Stanwood 155, 6. Skyline 165, 7. Eastlake 212, 8. Roosevelt 220, 9. Kamiak 227, 10. Inglemoor 256, 11. Garfield 290, 12. Monroe 305, 13. Newport 325, 14. Lake Stevens 365, 15. Edmonds-Woodway 377, 16. Arlington 385.

Local state meet qualifiers

(Top 25 qualify for state)

3. Brooke Kingma (Jackson) 18:43; 6. Bri Gibson (Snohomish) 18:59; 7. Jordin Stephenson (Stanwood) 19:01; 8. Jessica Rawlins (Jackson) 19:04; 13. Hannah Berntson (Snohomish); 14. Tiana Roe (Kamiak) 19:19; 15. Jade Borseth (Stanwood) 19:20; 16. Megan Bull (Monroe) 19:20; 18. Megan Alfi (Edmonds-Woodway) 19:21; 19. Kelsey Fruland (Jackson) 19:23; 20. Shelby Mills (Snohomish) 19:24.

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at aaronlommers@gmail.com