Yilma celebrates birthday with win

LANGLEY — As dozens of runners stumbled through the finish gate and many collapsed onto the ground, Yon Yilma turned around and calmly strolled back toward them.

He smiled at them. He clapped for them. He even brought water to a fallen runner, who sat on the ground and appeared dazed.

The actions of Yilma, a senior from Edmonds-Woodway High School, were remarkable not just because of their kind nature, but also because a minute earlier he had won the Class 4A boys race during the 2A, 3A and 4A District 1 cross country championships at South Whidbey School.

Yilma won his second consecutive district championship in a time of 15 minutes, 37 seconds, one second slower than the championship record. He gradually built a considerable lead throughout the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) race and held on to win by three seconds over runner-up Kyle King of Oak Harbor and Joey Bywater of Lake Stevens.

Yilma was apparently destined to win the race.

“Did you tell him it was your birthday and no one was allowed to beat you? Let’s go eat cake!” Edmonds-Woodway coach Regina Joyce said to Yilma after he completed a post-race interview.

Sure enough, Yilma celebrated his 19th birthday by winning.

“I had a good lead the whole way. I tried to make a gap on the hills,” said Yilma, who added that the time he spent this past summer training on hilly terrain finally paid off.

“That’s my strength: hills,” said Yilma, who is considered one of the favorites for next week’s state championship meet.

The top three 4A teams qualified for the state meet Nov. 3 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. All other top-15 individuals also advanced.

Snohomish crammed five runners in the top 24 places to win the district team title, its first since 2004, Panthers coach Dan Parker said. Snohomish scored 64 points, followed by Lake Stevens (73) and Jackson (83).

Senior Chris Goodman (sixth place, 16:03) was the top finisher for Snohomish, ranked No. 4 in the current Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association 4A poll. Freshman Jeff Bastian (ninth) and senior Taylor Wolfe (10th) also ran well for the Panthers.

Snohomish’s top four runners had a spread of just 16 seconds between them. That kind of tightly packed effort could help them win a prestigious trophy in Pasco.

“It’s killer. (If) you’ve got that, then you’re gonna win. That’s the bottom line,” coach Parker said.

Sophomore Mitchell Briggs (fourth) was the top competitor for Jackson, which last week won its second consecutive Western Conference South Division crown.

After E-W’s Yilma crossed the finish line, the fight for second and third place was intense. Bywater, the 2006 state runner-up, led King by a decent margin with about 300 meters to go as the runners crossed from a grass area onto the track. King surged into second place in the final straightaway and passed Bywater, but Bywater recovered and nearly caught King at the end.

Both runners completed the race in 15:40, but King was awarded second place after meet officials reviewed a recording of the finish.

A few seconds after he won, Yilma hugged Bywater and shook King’s hand. The outgoing E-W standout high-fived other competitors and rambled around, looking like he was ready to run another 5 kilometers.

“Don’t you ever sweat?” the mom of a Lake Stevens runner asked Yilma.

Yilma just shrugged. Maybe he has run out of ways to explain his extraordinary success.

Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.

At South Whidbey H.S.

3.1 miles (5,000 meters)

For complete results go to www.watfxc.com.

4A boys

Team scores (top three qualified for state meet)—1. Snohomish 64 points, 2. Lake Stevens 73, 3. Jackson 83, 4. Oak Harbor 115, 5. Mountlake Terrace 129, 6. Edmonds-Woodway 137, 7. Marysville-Pilchuck 219, 8. Kamiak 228, 9. Monroe 246, 10. Stanwood 252, 11. Cascade 262, 12. Shorewood 268, 13. Mariner 327.

Top five runners for top three teams

Snohomish—6. Goodman 16:03, 9. Bastian 16:15, 10. Wolfe 16:16, 15. Weed. 16:19, 24. Byrd 16:46.

Lake Stevens—3. Bywater 15:40, 5. Van Santen 15:58, 7. S. Larson 16:03, 18. D. Larson 16:35, 40. Martz 17:20.

Jackson—4. Briggs 15:54, 13. Lance 16:17, 19. Woolsey 16:36, 21. Conway 16:40, 26. Dunlap 16:51.

Other top-15 individuals who qualified for state

1. Yilma (E-W) 15:37, 2. K. King (Oak Harbor) 15:40, 8. Cooper (Kamiak) 16:13, 11. Hill (M. Terrace) 16:16, 12. T. King (Oak Harbor) 16:16, 14. Nydam (Oak Harbor) 16:18.