Ready to run the state

Amelia Pullen dominated the 2A district cross country championship race Saturday, on the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.

The Washougal High School junior reached the finish line in 18 minutes, 30 seconds and broke the course record, set by Tumwater’s Lauren Ericks in 2015, by 50 seconds.

This could have been considered a redemption race for Pullen. She was leading the district race last season on the same course when she took a wrong turn during the last mile and had to scratch and claw her way back to fifth place.

“Replacing the bad memories from getting lost last year with good memories,” Pullen said. “I felt really good. It was perfect weather. It was cool, and the sun was just peeking out.”

Head coach Terry Howard was happy to see Pullen take charge from the start.

“We’re happy with how she performs every single race,” he said. “There’s no bad races for Amelia. It’s not like she runs to win races, she just runs because she loves to run and winning is just a natural side effect because of how hard she works.”

Fellow Washougal junior Gabriel Dinnel enjoyed his course long battle with Ridgefield’s Kyle Radosevrich and Tumwater’s Joseph Morrissey. It was still anybody’s race on the final straightaway. Radosevrich finally pulled ahead for the championship in 15:54. Dinnel finished in 15:56 and Morrissey followed in 15:57.

“That’s probably the hardest I’ve ever ran, at least at the end,” Dinnel said. “That was really intense. I had no idea that I would be able to come back on any of them. I was just glad that I could.”

The Washougal boys cross country team wound up in second place at districts to qualify for state. Troy Prince-Butterfield took sixth place in 16:24, Tanner Lees earned 21th place (17:05), Ian Palmer placed 22th (17:05) and Jonathan Wells claimed 23rd (17:07).

The Washougal girls team gained third place at districts to qualify for state. Meryl Keeler finished in fifth place with a time of 20:06. Annabelle Palmer notched 29th place (21:42), Alexis Maniscalco took 33rd place (21:50) and Morgan Stinchfield earned 35th place (21:54).

The 2A state championship cross country races take place Saturday, Nov. 4, on the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The girls start at 11 a.m., and the boys follow at 1:30 p.m.

Camas sweeps Westside Classic

Emma Jenkins and Daniel Maton led the Camas High School cross country teams to first place at the Westside Classic Saturday, in University Place.

Jenkins clinched the individual girls title in 18:37. Her sister, Halle, followed in fourth place with 19:14. Freshman Camryn Mock claimed fifth place in 19:18. Seniors Ellie Postma (15th place in 19:48) and Madison Child (17th place in 19:51) rounded out the scoring for the Papermakers.

“Winning gave us a lot of confidence going into state,” Jenkins said. “We just want to enjoy every moment, have fun and have no regrets at the end of it all.”

Maton captured the individual boys championship with a time of 15:47. Jackson Lyne earned eighth place in 16:22. David Connell claimed 11th place (16:28), Spencer Twyman followed in 12th place (16:29) and LJ Floyd finished in 28th place (16:49).

“After losing a bunch of seniors the last two years, we didn’t have any expectations. That’s been the key,” said Connell, the only senior in this varsity boys group. “Just go out and give it your all. It’s been exciting seeing all of our hard work paying off in the postseason.”

Both Camas teams are peaking just in time for the state championship races Saturday, Nov. 4, on the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The girls start at 1 p.m., followed by the boys at 2:30 p.m.

Maton shared his dream scenario.

“Individual state champ, team state champ. And hopefully the girls can do it, too,” he said.
“We’re all really excited,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to have to work hard, but I know we can do it if we all run a great race.”

Emma Jenkins, Postma, Child and Brooke Roy have been running together since they were freshmen.

“This is going to be our last chance to give everything that we have. Our last huge race for Camas High School,” Jenkins said.

“We’re going to run for each other and hope for the best,” Roy added. “Just have our teammates and mind while running.”