By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
PASCO — The Port Angeles girls finished ninth as a team at the Class 2A state cross country championships at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday.
The Roughriders got three runners in the top 42 and four in the top 87. Freshman Lauren Larson had a top 10 finish, coming in 10th with a time of 19 minutes, 23.50 seconds.
Port Angeles finished with 195 team points, well ahead of 10th-place Tumwater with 246. Sehome won the state championship with 101 team points.
Madelyn Dougherty finished 32nd with a time of 20:03.50 and Gracie Long 42nd with a time of 20:17.00.
Next for the Riders was Ella Holland in 87th with a time of 21:03.30, Kathryn Guttormsen in 118th in a time of 21:36.20, Ellie Hiigel 135th in a time of 21:54.30 and Alisandra Baccus 139th with a time of 22:05.30.
The Sequim boys finished 16th as a team. Sequim wase led by Murray Bingham, who came in 76th with a time of 17:11.60.
Sequim’s Alec Shingleton came in 81st in 17:17.60, Liam Byrne 104th in 17:29.30, Jazen Bartee 137th in 17:55.10, Eli Gish 141st in 17:58.70, Fischer Jensen 153rd in 18:40.60 and Erik Christiansen in 19:01.00.
Port Angeles did not have a full team at the meet, but the Roughriders had three runners at the race. Gabriel Long led Port Angeles, coming in 130th with a time of 17:48.60. Cameron Butler finished 146th with a time of 18:06.80 and Thomas Shaw finished 147th with a time of 18:13.10.
1A Race
The Forks girls finished 11th as a team at the state 1A cross country meet, with two girls finishing in the top 41 and four girls in the top 90.
The Spartans were led by Marissa Bailey, who finished 40th out of 152 runners with a time of 20:17.30. Right behind her was teammate Enid Ensastegui, who finished 41st with a time of 20:18.20.
The Spartans finished with 241 team points. Colville won the meet with 114 points.
Port Townsend’s Ally Bradley finished 83rd. She was the only girl from Port Townsend at the race.
Other Forks girls include Madelyn Archibald, who finished 85th with a time of 21:15.50, Madison Carlson, 90th, with a time of 21:22.10; Karen Ensastegui, 103rd, 21:47.10; Melisa Galindo, 128th, 22:31.20; and Chelsea Biciunas, 147th, 23:58.10.
For the boys, Port Townsend had an impressive race in the 1A meet. The Redhawks fell just short of qualifying as a full team for state but they did send four boys to the race, getting two runners in the top 45 and all four in the top 100. Nathan Cantrell had the best finish for Port Townsend, coming in 24th with a time of 16:38.70.
Gabe Petrick finished 44th with a time of 17:03.60, Seamus Fraser 92nd with a time of 17:46.40 and Kincaid Gould 98th with a time of 17:49.00.
Forks’ Samuel Gomez was the sole Spartan to qualify for state. He finished 81st with a time 17:37.40.