Strong efforts from both squads and a serendipitous transfer of sibling racers helped Sequim’s cross country squads place among the best 2A prep teams in Washington last weekend.
Sequim’s sophomore-laden boys crew raced to an 11th-place finish while the Wolves’ girls were 13th at the 2A state finals in Pasco on Nov. 5.
Sophomores Ash Francis and Murray Bingham led the SHS boys, placing 17th and 20th, respectively. Francis completed the 5,000-meter course at Sun Willows Golf Course in 16:29, about seven seconds — and 15 places — better than his 2015 state race.
Bingham raced to a 16:32 finish in his first state meet race for Sequim.
Murray’s sister Morgan, a senior, led the Sequim girls by placing 34th overall with a 20:10 finish, about 25 seconds off her personal best.
SHS teammate Kiara Pierson, a junior, placed 60th with a 20:44 mark, 28 seconds faster than her 2015 state meet race and a 26th-place improvement.
Other top finishers for the Sequim boys were Alec Shingleton (89th, 17:37), Jazen Bartee (98th, 17:44), Liam Byrne (109th, 17:51), Kyle Klopfenstein (156th, 19:41) and Emmanuel Gomez (157th, 21:02) — each running in their first state race.
Other top finishers for Sequim’s girls were Noelle Bittner (101st, 21:47 — a personal record), Kaitlyn Viada (123rd, 22:18 — a personal best), Vita Olsen (136th, 23:00), Emily Silva (147th, 23:53 — a personal best) and Madeline Henderson (158th, 26:33).
Last season, Sequim boys placed third and the girls took 12th.
On the boys’ side, Sehome repeated as 2A champions, with Cedarcrest in second and Liberty-Issaquah, last year’s runner-up, in third. Sequim’s Wolves, ranked No. 6 in the 2A classification after being unranked for most of the fall season, was the top Olympic League team; Kingston took 13th, Port Angeles was 15th and North Kitsap was 16th.
On the girls’ side, Selah improved from third place in 2015 to win the 2016 title. Defending champ Liberty-Issaquah was second and Sehome was third. Port Angeles, led by junior Gracie Long (11th place), was eighth.
