Washougal girls get back to state

The Washougal High School girls cross country extended its season to the state championship meet with a third-place finish at districts Saturday, on the Lewis River Golf Course, in Woodland.

“It’s so much more special when you make it to state as a team,” said captain and senior Karina Miller.

Sophomore Courtney Owens hung with the leading runners from Tumwater. She also beat league rival Bailey Birch, of Ridgefield, to the finish line in third place with a time of 19 minutes, 53 seconds.

Hannah Lintala took 17th place for the Panthers (21:02), Miller earned 23rd (22:03), Lydia Lyall claimed 31st (22:57) and Meredith Collins notched 34th (23:23).

The 2A girls state championship race starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, on the Sun Willows Golf Course, in Pasco.

Bailey Duncan and Aiden Pullen will join the Washougal girls after qualifying for state in the boys race Saturday. Duncan grabbed 11th place at districts (17:03) and Pullen followed in 13th place (17:08). The state boys race begins at 1:30 p.m.

Nicholas Velardi earned 21st place for the Panthers (17:27), Luke Belzer took 33rd (17:59) and Collin Manning claimed 38th (18:14). The Washougal boys finished in fourth place as a team, just four points shy of qualifying for state.