Ferris holds off Mead, CV
PASCO – Cameron Quackenbush picked the perfect time to win the first varsity cross country race of his career.
The Ferris senior surprised himself, if not his coach, when he sprinted past the field late to become the individual winner during the Washington State 4A Track and Field Championships at Sun Willows Golf Course.
Quackenbush pulled two teammates, David Hickerson and Stephen Olsen, with him to top-five finishes and with it the Saxons won their fourth straight state championship.
They led a three-team Greater Spokane League romp, beating rivals Mead and Central Valley 51-72-92. CV’s Bears finished 50 points ahead of fourth-place Lake Stevens for their first team trophy. The GSL had eight of the top 13 individual finishers.
“I really don’t know where it came from,” said Quackenbush of his title. “It was the first varsity cross country race I’ve ever won.”
Coach Mike Hadway did. He said he felt any of his top three finishers were capable of the individual title.
“The way David was running I thought he had a 90 percent chance, and you never know when Stephen could pop one,” Hadway said.
He told Quackenbush to stay back in the first mile while others raced themselves out, pull a surge and hang on.
“I had a feeling he could do it,” said Hadway.
That’s exactly what Quackenbush did. He found himself with the leaders and took the lead at 2 miles.
“I was just hoping I could hold on,” he said of the downhill winning sprint. “I thought they were gaining on me.”
He timed 15 minutes, 44 seconds to beat Lake Stevens’ Joey Bywater and Mariner’s Dak Riek by 4 and 5 seconds. CV’s Tylor Thatcher, who has always run well at Sun Willows, finished a career-high fourth in 15:57 with Hickerson and Olsen a second behind.
That three-runner punch, finishing just ahead of Panthers Kelly Lynch and Kelvin Daratha, made it nearly impossible for Mead to have any chance at a victory.
Fellow Ferris seniors Nick LaPlante and Jeff Devlin completed the scoring as the Saxons become just the third school to win more than three State 4A meets in succession. Hadway is the second coach to earn that distinction.
“All my teams have been special, but this team is really, really special,” said Hadway of the senior-laden crew that thrives in big meets. “Three years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed they would be No. 1 or 2 in the nation.”
Most had other sports interests as sophomores, but after watching older Saxons bring home titles they took on the challenge.
“We just had a tradition at Ferris,” said Quackenbush, “and I guess we wanted to keep it going. We ran every day during the summer. I don’t know, just hard work is all paying off right now.”
4A girls: The fastest girls race and most exciting of the 10-meet day was also Shadle Park freshman Andrea Nelson’s baptism under state fire. She aced her test, finishing second in 18:16.
“Was that a great race or what?” marveled Highlanders coach Bob Isitt.
Four runners – Nelson, Thomas Jefferson senior Kenna Patrick, and a pair of Bellarmine Prep juniors, Nicole Cochrane and Kayla Evans – ran clumped for the bulk of the torrid race, a comfortable distance apart from the remainder of the field.
He said the plan was for Nelson to surge on the final hill to weather her opponents’ kick. The opposite happened.
As the race neared its end, Patrick and Cochran took off. But Nelson mustered a mad dash in the final few yards to eke out second.
“It wasn’t until the last little part where the two girls pulled away and I thought, ‘Gosh, I’ll just get third,’ ” Nelson said. “I was like, ‘No I want second,’ and gave that last little oomph at the end.”