District cross country: Lewis and Clark take boys, girls 4A titles; Mt. Spokane sweeps boys, girls 3A titles.

WALLA WALLA – The Greater Spokane League has long produced highly competitive teams and talented individuals in its dominance of the sport of cross country.

That tradition continued to live on for another year after more dominating team and individual efforts from the Mt. Spokane and Lewis and Clark boys and girls teams Saturday at the District 8 4A/3A meet at Veterans Memorial Golf Course .

The Mt. Spokane boys used their strong pack of runners to defeat rival Mead 31-53 for the 3A team title. Sophomore Kade Brownell’s third-place run of 15 minutes, 51.2 second over the 5,000-meter course led the way for the Wildcats.

“This means everything,” Brownell said. “We’ve come along way from barely making it to state last year to becoming a really good state contender.”Six Wildcats placed in the top 21 for head coach Scott Daratha, including four others alongside Brownell in the top 10. Sophomore Parker Westermann (15:53) placed fourth, senior Ben Smith (15:55.5) took fifth, senior Matt Conrad (16:17.1) finished ninth and senior Ben Sonneland (16:22.5) placed 10th.

“We came here to win it,” Daratha said. “Hopefully, we made a statement that the rest of the state will look at and say, ‘That’s a legitimate team that’s going to be a challenge at the state meet.’ “

Mead and Cheney also advance to next week’s state meet in Pasco after placing second and third, respectively. Senior Noah Holden’s runner-up finish in 15:49.19 led Mead. The Blackhawks, who scored 71 points for third place, were led by sophomore Calvin Hilton’s sixth-place run of 16:00.73.

Walla Walla’s Brody Hartley ran away with the individual crown, clocking a course-record time of 15:23.91.

Senior Charlotte Pedersen and the Mt. Spokane girls pulled off an upset win over defending State 3A champion Mead, winning 66-70. Pedersen took home the individual title in 18:19.58.

“It’s really nice to accomplish something you can be proud of,” Pedersen said. “Me and coach (Andy) Sonneland talked, and we decided I just go and give it my all.”Three other Wildcats finished in the top 20 to help surpass Mead. Freshman Jane Wycoff made the biggest jump by finishing fifth in a personal-best 19:21.3. Freshman Brianna McKell (20:13.53, 18th) and junior Serenity Marek (20:36.69, 20th) were next for Mt. Spokane.

“All of our girls exceeded our goals,” Sonneland said. “They delivered today and it was fun. … We didn’t even talk about Mead earlier. We we’re just going for No. 2, so it was a total surprise.”Juniors Charlotte Cullen and Raegan Borg placed second and third, respectively, for Mead, which advances to state. Cullen ran 18:45.59 and Borg 18:52.04.

Cheney clinched a state berth with a third-place effort scoring 91 points. Blackhawks senior Samantha Habegger earned 11th overall in 19:38.09 .

4A

Senior Evan Bruce and the LC boys pulled through with wins.

Bruce defeated Kamiakin sophomore Ezra Teeples by 23 seconds for the individual title, running 15:43.89 to lead the Tigers over the Braves 42-86.

The Tigers had four runners finish in the top 10 Senior Charles Ledwith (16:12.38) placed third, sophomore Harper Churape (16:27.06) was seventh and senior Braeden Vlasak (16:32.93) took ninth.

“This is the first time we really got to show our team’s strength,” Bruce said. “I’m really happy with my team.”

Kamiakin and Hanford, which finished third with 107 points, move on to state. Gonzaga Prep missed out qualifying by one spot, finishing fourth with 119 points. The Bullpups will send three individuals to state, including senior Graham Cleveland, who finished sixth in 16:24.50.

The LC girls held off Central Valley 33-69 for the team title, led by seniors Bridget Burns and Ella Swanson and sophomore Katie Lubbe. The three finished within 2 seconds of each other as Burns (19:18.99) took second, Lubbe (19:19.35) placed third and Swanson earned fourth in 19:20.83.

“I’m so happy they were right with me,” Burns said, who missed last year’s district meet due to illness. “It’s always so much fun to run with your teammates and I love those girls so much.”Central Valley senior Nicole Bissell led the Bears back to state after setting a course record and personal best of 18:14.73, dropping her 5,000 time down by over a minute from her junior year best .

Richland finished third with 109 points to take the final state berth spot.

2A

West Valley senior Roxanne Fredericksen ran a 3-mile personal-best time of 18:21 to finish second at the District 5/6/8 meet at the Apple Ridge Cross Country Course in Yakima. Her Eagles girls advanced to the state meet, finishing second as a team with 72 points.

West Valley put three in the top 10, led by Fredericksen, sophomore Hadassah Duff (19:10) in seventh and freshman Quincy Andrews (19:27) in 10th.

East Valley junior Logan Hofstee and senior Abby Crossley earned top-three finishes. Hofstee took the title in 17:16 and Crossley placing third in 18:40.

Pullman senior Abilgail Hulst took fourth in 18:45.

Among boys, West Valley’s Tony Belko finished third in 15:35 and Shadle Park’s Luke Hammond earned seventh, running 15:58.