LaCenter edges Bruins for Trico championship

Those three teams figure to contend for state-meet berths when they race along with the rest of the Trico and Evergreen league boys teams at the District IV meet Thursday at Lewis River Golf Course. The top three boys scoring teams at Lewis River will qualify for the 1A state championships in Pasco on Nov. 6. The top 21 boys finishers at district also will qualify for state.

“This Trico League has three teams that are nearly identical on paper,” Columbia Coach Mike Hannigan said. “La Center was able to get the win (last week), but we are focused on the district championship now.”

Seton Catholic easily won the girls Trico meet, placing 1-2-4-5-8 to score 20 points. LaCenter was second at 41 and Columbia third with 68 team points.

The Columbia girls will race Saturday at a “super regional” meet — along with runners from Washington’s first through fourth districts — at South Whidbey High School in Langley. The top six finishing girls teams and top 42 placing individuals qualify for the 1A state championship in Pasco on Nov. 6.

Both Trico League races went as expected. The Seton girls are ranked No. 1 in Washington 1A and La Center is ranked third. Seton was led by individual champion Alexis Leone, who covered the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes, 54 seconds – more than a half minute better than the rest of the field.

LaCenter’s Joseph Blanshan won by about the same margin in the boys race (16:41), but the team competition was close. Blanshan’s scoring teammates finished 4-8-13-14 compared to Columbia’s placing of 3-6-7-12-15.

“At this point, every point counts and my runners are going to need to dig deep for each place they earn,” Hannigan said.

Junior Camden Uffelman did his part for the Bruins, finishing third overall in a personal best 17:34. Uffelman was the lone finisher in the top 10 to PR. Columbia’s other scoring runners were August Lorincz (sixth, 18:27), Noah Slayton (seventh, 18:39), Garrett Kock (12th, 18:52) and Henry Wilson (15th, 19:05). Kock had a personal-best race by five seconds and cracked the Bruins’ top four for the first time since early season.

“Garrett has really stepped up his race performance and I expect he will grow even more each week,” Hannigan said. “He is also just a great young man.”

The Columbia girls team raced to four personal bests at the Trico meet, including No. 1 runner Zimmerman, who was sixth overall in 20:58.

“As for the girls team, it was great to see so many late season PRs over the 5K distance,” Hannigan said. “There is lots of room for continued growth with this team as they get stronger and stronger.”

Columbia’s other scoring runners at district in 14th through 17th were: Esther Kline (23:22, season best); Rian Pedersen (24:20, season best); Leah Swanson (25:38, PR); and Damarys Alvarez (25:52).

Hannigan said he is excited to see how his athletes perform at the regional meet this weekend. “This should be a huge race and I expect the girls will have a strong showing,” he said. “Our goal is to get as many athletes from the girls team to the state meet.”