The final steps — or, more accurately, trail — to the state cross country championship meets was determined on Saturday morning for many Twin Harbor schools and individuals at the District IV cross country championship meets.
Montesano’s boys will go as a group as the only Twin Harbors complete team to move on to the state meet in the Class 1A boys division at Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.
Aberdeen’s Kyle Hurd and Faith Cardenas were the top individual runners, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively in the Class 2A boys and girls races, also at Lewis River.
A large gaggle of Twin Harborites punched their tickets to the state 2B/1B tournament after the district meet at Onalaska High School.
The state cross country meet will be held next Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The top-three teams and the top-21 individuals advanced to the state meet in the 2A and 1A meets. The top-five teams (35 individuals) in the boys 2B meet and the top-four teams (28 individuals) in the girls 2B meet.
Class 2A
Senior Hurd and junior Cardenas punched their individual tickets to the state 2A meet next week by doing what they’ve done all year — get to the front and stay there.
In a tightly contested boys race, Hurd was in a six-man group separated by 12 seconds in a packed finish. Tumwater’s Evan Groat won the district individual title at 16:19, with Hurd fourth at 16:27.
Cardenas was also in a tight group in the girls race and finished sixth overall at 20:34.
Class 1A
Montesano’s boys put five scoring runners in the top-24 spots to secure a third-place team finish and a berth in the state meet.
Logan Clements led the Bulldogs with a seventh-place finish at 17:40 and Jake Mustard, the Evergreen 1A League individual champion, was 11th overall. Connor Parkinson, at 15th, Josef Aschenbrenner, at 23rd, and Blaine Ross, at 24th, completed Montesano’s team scoring.
“I wanted to do better overall, but we’re going to state and the boys are very happy about that,” Montesano head coach James Edwards said. “(The course) was swampy — just like last year (slow, muddy, wet and slippery). They altered the course this morning due to the mud and the water.”
Edwards cited Aschenbrenner for his run and for his overall performance this season. “He’s just been consistent all year and moving closer and closer to the other guys,” he added.
Elma’s Dylan Volz was the only Twin Harbors runner to qualify individually, taking 13th overall. Hoquiam’s Oscar Joya missed out on a state berth in 22nd place.
“He was pretty bummed out,” HHS head coach Carly Giles said. “Being one away is pretty hard, but he has a really positive attitude. He still finished with a smile, like he always does. I’m proud of the team. Even though no one qualified, they worked hard and had a good season.”
“Dylan worked hard this year,” Elma head coach Dave Beeler said. “He got a PR (in the swamp). In fact, only one of our runners didn’t get a PR. Everyone ran well.”
In the girls race, no Twin Harbors runners qualified for the state meet. Hoquiam’s Alexis Delahanty, one of the Harbor’s best chances to get to state, bowed out of the race midway through with an injury.
Class 2B/1B
The Twin Harbors will be represented by nine individual runners after Saturday’s district meet at Onalaska High School.
Ocosta’s Kathryn Anderson and McKenzie Ballo finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the girls’ 2B race to qualify for state. Willapa Valley’s Traci Hoffman also qualified for state in 17th place. Ocosta’s Jasmin Velasco missed out on a state berth at 29th place.
The boys meet saw six Harborites move on, including a photo finish for the 35th and final berth. Willapa Valley’s Patrick Pearson edged out North River’s Forrest Carbaugh by .17 seconds for the final state berth.
Ocosta’s Alex Bailey (15th) and Sam Quinby (28th), Willapa Valley’s Ryon Ashley (18th), Raymond’s Jachin Heckman (27th) and North Beach’s Miguel Eastman (29th) all qualified for state.
“The boys and the girls exceeded my expectations,” Ocosta head coach Aaron Anderson said. “The boys were ranked 10th coming in and they finished sixth. We’re happy with that. We have four who qualified, but Jasmin, our freshman, ran out of her mind. It was a 2-minute (PR) for her and we thought she initially made it. However, they made a mistake and she finished just outside the state berths. I felt bad for her, because it was an amazing race for her.”
