Whatcom County cross country teams continue putting their stamp on this season, as seven total girls and boys teams qualified for state as a group this past weekend.
Sehome, Bellingham and Meridian are each sending 14 athletes, while five other schools contributed to the 58 total county athletes heading to state meets.
Class 1A
The 1A District 1 meet at the Deming Logging Show grounds comprised solely Whatcom County athletes, but the Oct. 29 meet saw strong performances from all schools involved.
Lynden Christian, Meridian and Mount Baker are all sending runners to the 1A state meet. The Trojans showed up in full force, with the boys and girls groups each qualifying as a team.
Meridian captured all of the top three spots in the girls 5,000-meter race out of 19 runners. Meridian’s Logan Ignacio burned the competition with her time of 19:44.84, taking first and finishing nearly two and a half minutes ahead of the pack. Emilee Swanson (22:05.91) took second and Adelle Ashmore (22:06.27) secured third.
Meridian’s Ava Hansen, Natalie Larson, Sophia Petke and Kerri Barnes will join those three at the 1A state meet.
LC qualified two girls for state in fourth-place finisher Avery Vanweerdhuizen (22:55.74) and fifth-place finisher Lydia TerBeek (22:59.87). Mount Baker’s Erica Cook (23:07.21) finished just after them in sixth and will also head to state.
In the boys 5,000-meter race, LC’s Andrew Luce continued his stellar season with another first-place finish over a minute ahead of all other runners (16:05.44).
Meridian took the next two spots as Braxton Ashmore secured second with a time of 17:16.59, followed by Nolan Jacoby (17:23.83) in third. Meridian’s Conner Tenkley, Jackson Miller, Willem Nichols, Asher Todd and Dane Beishline will also go to state with top-15 finishes at districts out of 31 runners.
Mount Baker’s Jorey Johnson was the Mountaineers’ lone qualifier, finishing fourth with a time of 17:28.76. Nickolas Luce is also heading to state for LC after finishing sixth.
The 1A state meet will be held on Nov. 5 at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco, Franklin County.
Class 2A
The Bellingham schools outright dominated the 2A District 1 races at Lakewood High School Oct. 29. Out of the 58 total county runners headed to state meets, 36 of those are from 2A schools.
Sehome, Squalicum and Bellingham’s boys runners all qualified as a team. In the 5,000-meter boys race, 12 of the top 15 finishers were from Whatcom County.
Sehome’s Zach Munson took first out of 68 runners with his time of 15:12.7. That was 43 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Squalicum’s Evan Rush (15:55.8). The Storm’s Chase Bartlett and (15:57.0) Owen Voigt (15:57.3) were close behind in third and fourth.
Sehome’s Skyler Gillham finished seventh, as Bellingham’s Quinn Hartsoch (eighth) and Paden Loveland (10th) rounded out the top-10 placers.
Squalicum will also send Tyler Nielsen, Wesley Sluys, Gabriel Salomon and Pedro Bojorquez to the 2A state meet. From Bellingham, in addition to its first two placers, Caleb Guthrie, William Giesen, Gavin Miner, Jasper Roper and Berkley Pass all qualified for state.
Sehome is also sending Heath Terry, Sabastien Vahid, Nick Gargano, Tanner Cameron and Parker Norman to the 2A state meet. Lynden’s Gage Ellis is headed to state as well after his 15th-place finish.
On the girls side of the 2A District 1 meet, Sehome and Bellingham qualified for state as a team. Bellingham’s Zaya Smith finished second in between two Anacortes runners, out of 60 total athletes, with her time of 18:45.0. Sehome’s Evelyn Buetow took fourth, crossing the finish line in 19:08.5.
Three more Sehome runners rounded out the top-10 placers with Julie Gill (19:26.3) in sixth, Sydney Harri (19:45.9) in ninth and Marcella Leita (19:46.6) in 10th. The Mariners will also send Abby Rusk, Alivia Hernandez and Johnny Eggert to the state meet.
In addition to Smith, Bellingham is sending Gillian Spilker, Grace Friesen, Marissa Guthrie, Laoise Seltz, Sydney Lemke and Ella Dowling to state.
Squalicum missed a team qualifier but will have Emily Bowles heading to state after she finished 14th with a time of 20:06.6. Lynden’s Ella Frerichs (20:01.2) is also off to state after finishing 13th.
The 2A state meet will also be at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Nov. 5.
Class 3A
In the girls 5,000-meter race at the 3A District 1-2 meet on Oct. 29, Ferndale’s Katie Manly finished 10th out of 109 runners with a time of 20:07.7. She will be the school’s lone runner at the 3A state meet on Nov. 5 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
