Bruins cross country finish season at state

The Bruins were led by senior Ella Zimmerman, who was 32nd overall out of 154 runners. Zimmerman covered the 5,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 20 seconds. It was the third trip to state for Zimmerman, the team captain who was 37th a year ago.

Coach Michael Hannigan’s other state-meet runners, who also won the Trico League championship on Oct. 21, were underclassmen. No. 2 runner, sophomore Raina McAllister, was 67th in 22:23. No. 3 runner, sophomore Damarys Alvarez, was 82nd in 22:52. Junior Leah Swanson was 124th in 24:27 and junior Grace Bjelland-Lathim was 138th in 25:13.

Columbia’s No. 6 and 7 runners — frosh Reyna Pinchot and junior Caitlin Frakes — were 147th and 152nd respectively.

“The girls, man, holy moly, they won the Trico championship, then they won the division championship and they’re just getting better,” Hannigan said. “And then next year they’re going to be even better. … We’re only losing one girl (Zimmerman). I feel really confident that the girls team is going to do pretty well here in the next couple of years.”

Lakeside of Nine Mile won the 1A state girls meet with 94 points. The individual champion was Seton Catholic junior Alexis Leone, who won her second straight crown in 18:22.

Columbia’s boys were represented at state by senior Camden Uffelman and sophomore Noah Slayton, who finished 60th in 18:21. Uffelman was 107th in 19:00.

Seattle’s Bush School won the boys meet with 95 points; Reid Headrick of Medical Lake was the individual champion in 16:01.