For the first time, both Columbia High cross country teams posted top-10 finishes at the same state meet.
The CHS girls placed 10th and the CHS boys finished ninth in their respective 16-team fields last Saturday on a cool, foggy fall morning in the Tri-Cities.
“Our goal was top 10 all season long and it felt good to earn those spots,” said Bruins Coach Jill Cole. “The team worked hard all summer and all season to accomplish this. It’s difficult to keep that hunger for as long as this team did, but it never wavered.”
Junior Haley Blair was the first Bruin to cross the finish line on the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
The Bruins captain finished 21st overall in the girls 5,000-meter race in a time of 20 minutes, 1 second, which was 48 seconds faster than her previous personal record for the Pasco course.
The third-year runner’s time ranks as the fourth-fastest in the history of CHS girls cross country. More-over, her time represented a 1:40 improvement from her freshman run at state.
Columbia’s girls finished with a score of 263. Their scoring five also included freshmen Joules Hope (41st, 20:43.8) and Lillian Nelson (92nd, 21.40.4), and juniors Andrea Ochoa (120th, 22:- 45.4) and Rachel Luther (123rd, 22:48.6).
“It’s a young group. Most of them were making their first trip to state, but they ran like veterans,”Cole said of the CHS girls team that also included freshmen Hannah Leon (130th, 23:-14.2) and Madeleine Koch (159th, 26:13.5).
“They girls stepped up to the competition and we are a top-10 team,” Cole said.
Seniors Will Nuckoles and Colin Howe led the CHS boys to ninth place by coming in 45th and 47th in a field of 155 runners. Both set course PRs in their fourth and final state meet.
Nuckoles finished in a time of 17:19.9. His previous best time at state was 17:52.4 in 2014. Howe completed the 5,000-meter layout in 17:21.8. He ran a 17:29.3 as a sophomore, when he placed 54th.
Their 2016 times now stand as the 14th and 15th fastest state meet times in program history.
Moreover, the ninth-place finish and score of 226 are the CHS boys team’s highest marks at state since 1996, when it placed fourth with a score of 147.
Freshman Dylan Beneventi had a solid state meet debut. He posted a time of 17:25.7, which was good for 54th place.
Sophomore Ethan Andrews and junior Declan Liddiard rounded out the CHS scoring five as both established new course PRs.
Andrews moved up 37 spots in the standings to finish 71st in 17:53 (more than a 48-second improvement), while Liddiard improved by eight places (to 102nd) and lowered his time by about 29 seconds, to 18:13.7.
Junior James Bell and freshman Finn Coffin also competed at state, Bell for the second time.
Bell made his way around the course in 18:20.8 to place 110th. He was 133rd in 2015, in 19:14.7.
Coffin was right on Bell’s heels as he placed 111th in 18:22.6.
Cole said the cool air temperature and the fog that hung over the course during the 1A girls and boys races did not present any issues for the racers.
“It’s been foggy in the past, but not quite like this year’s fog,” Cole said. “The team did not mind and it did not affect our performance at all. The fog was only a disadvantage to the spectators.”
Cole expects CHS’s teams to be strong again in 2017. The CHS boys will lose four seniors, while the girls team will return intact.
“Both teams will look to be competitive in league and at district and state once again next season, “ she said.
Correction: The caption that ran under the CHS boys cross country team picture on Page 6 last week misidentified sophomore Gerald Hoff as junior Connor Black.
Commented