At the 1A Evergreen League Championships on Thursday, Montesano’s Benny Anderson and Hoquiam’s Jane Roloff did what they have done throughout the season – win.
Anderson claimed the boys title while Roloff won her second-consecutive league championship by conquering the 5,000-meter track at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
Anderson, a sophomore, posted a time of 17:24 to defeat Eatonville’s Colton Rush by 10 seconds, with older brother Jesse Anderson placing third with at time of 17:39.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano sophomore Benny Anderson checks over his shoulder as he rounds a corner during the 1A Evergreen Championship cross-country meet Thursday at the Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma. Anderson would win the league title by completing the 5K course in 17:24.
Anderson said he was pushed by Elma freshman Frank Roberts through the first mile of the race and later by Rush, but he stuck to his game plan and it paid off.
“My race strategy was at every corner I was going to try to speed up. That’s the trick to lose people that are chasing after you,” he said. “I was doing that and at every corner and I just felt faster and faster.”
Anderson said at the 4K mark, he found the extra gear to distance himself between him and rush.
“I was felling really fast and I just kind of went into my kick,” he said. “It just felt like a very relaxed and easy race.”
Anderson’s victory was his third straight in Monte’s past three events, including wins at the Rainier Invitational on Oct. 5 and the Moses Lake Invite on Oct. 12.
But winning a league title had more importance to Anderson, as it completed one of several goals established after last season’s league-title race.
“I don’t think I’ve processed it yet,” he said. “Last year I got fourth and I thought, ‘One of these years, I’m going to win league and it’s going to be great.’ So it’s kind of cool.”
The Anderson brothers joined sophomore Colton Sweet (17:58, 7th) and juniors Jackson Green (18:28, 11th) and Pau Surinach (18:44, 12th) for a team total of 34 points, winning the team league championship by 11 points over second-place Eatonville.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD The Montesano Bulldogs boys cross country team won the league title at the 1A Evergreen Championship cross-country meet Thursday at the Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
Montesano, along with Eatonville, will represent the two teams out of the 1A Evergreen League to advance to the district championship meet, which is scheduled for Thursday at the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.
In the girls race, Roloff continued her cross-country dominance in the region, winning the event for the second-straight season with a time of 18:54.
The clear favorite entering the race, Roloff won by more than 30 seconds over Montesano freshman Haley Schweppe (19:27) in a race that likely had eyeballs on it throughout the state.
Roloff currently holds the third-fastest 1A class time this season and set the Hoquiam 5K school record with a time of 18:44.5 on Sept. 30.
Schweppe holds the fourth-best 1A time at 18:49.3 set back on Sept. 16, a Montesano school record at the 5K distance.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano freshman Haley Schweppe placed second in the girls race to lead the Bulldogs to a team title at the 1A Evergreen Championship cross-country meet Thursday at the Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
With all eyes on the two talented runners, it was Roloff who would not be denied, winning for the fifth time this season.
“I was just trying to get excited and have fun. You can only do so much. I was working on not thinking too much about it and just going out to have fun and running for myself,” Roloff said on her race preparation. “I’m happy I got to finish off my high school career with another league championship. I’m just happy and feeling very accomplished that I did it.”
Roloff had plenty of support in the crowd as well, including former Hoquiam standout and current Saint Martin’s distance runner Timmy Higgins, who wore a ‘Stop Jane’ T-shirt, referencing the infamous ‘Stop Pre’ T-shirts worn by supporters of the opponents of distance-running legend Steve Prefontaine during the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam standout Jane Roloff, right, stands with former teammate and current Saint Martin’s University runner Timmy Higgins, who adorned a ‘Stop Jane’ T-shirt at the 1A Evergreen Championship cross-country meet on Thursday at the Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
“Nobody can stop her,” Higgins said of Roloff. “She’s been dominant.”
“It made me laugh,” Roloff said of her reaction upon seeing Higgins’ attire.
While Roloff won the individual title, it was Montesano that won the team championship to advance to the district meet.
Led by Schweppe sisters Haley and Samantha (19:57, 3rd), seniors Alayna Olson (22:56, 8th) and Asha Harris (23:03, 9th) and freshman Alice Nelson (25:35, 14th), Montesano scored 22 points to claim the team title with ease, beating second-place Tenino by 44 points.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD The Montesano Bulldogs girls cross country team won the league title at the 1A Evergreen Championship cross-country meet Thursday at the Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
“We did kind of expect to win, but it wasn’t for sure. There were some people that some of our girls were worried about. Our strategy was to just go for it and stick with the faster people on our team. … Our goal was to race as hard as we could,” Harris said. “(The league title) means a lot. This is our first year that we’ve had a really good team, so it’s really cool that we have a good team that can take league champs.”
The 1A Evergreen middle school championship race was held ahead of the high school races.
Elma middle schoolers won both the boys and girls league titles while Hoquiam Middle School’s Caleb Gudino won the boys race, crossing the finish line of the 1.55-mile race with at time of 9:21.
Elma’s Annie Richey won the girls competition with a time of 10:23.
Full results for the high school races can be found at athletic.net.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam Middle School’s Caleb Gudino won the boys middle school race at the 1A Evergreen Championship cross-country meet on Thursday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
High school results
Boys Team results: 1, Montesano 34. 2, Eatonville 45. 3, Tenino 82. 4, Hoquiam 97. 5, Elma 116.
Boys district qualifiers: 1, Benny Anderson, Montesano, 17:24. 2, Colton Rush, Eatonville, 17:34. 3, Jesse Anderson, Montesano, 17:39. 4, Tristan Von Bargen, Tenino, 17:40. 5, Ryker Maxfield, Hoquiam, 17:41. 6, Joe Mueller, Eatonville, 17:45. 7, Colton Sweet, Montesano, 17:58. 8, Frank Roberts, Elma, 18:03. 9, Konlan Higgins, Hoquiam, 18:09. 10, Benjamin Bernt, Eatonville, 18:13. 11, Jackson Green, Montesano, 18:28. 12, Pau Surinach, Montesano, 18:44. 13, Owen Van Eaton, Eatonville, 19:22. 14, Joe Callon, Eatonville, 19:29.
Girls team results: 1, Montesano 22. 2, Tenino 66. 3, Elma 68. 4, Eatonville 59.
Girls district qualifiers: 1, Jane Roloff, Hoquiam, 18:54. 2, Haley Schweppe, Montesano, 19:27. 3, Samantha Schweppe, Montesano, 19:57. 4, Grace Coonrod, Eatonville, 20:07. 5, Zoe Ray, Montesano, 21:27. 6, Cheyanne Price, Eatonville, 22:05. 7, Brynn Williams, Tenino, 22:13. 8, Alayna Olson, Montesano, 22:56. 9, Asha Harris, Montesano, 23:03. 10, Georgia Burkhart, Elma, 23:09. 11, Samantha Smith, Tenino, 23:35. 12, Haley Huber, Tenino, 23:44. 13, Bridget Stumph, Eatonville, 24:14. 14, Alice Nelson, Montesano, 25:35.
Middle school results
Boys team results: 1, Elma 23. 2, Hoquiam 49. 3, Montesano 69. 4, Tenino 100.
Boys top 10: 1, Caleb Gudino, Hoquiam, 9:21. 2, Manny Venegas, Elma, 9:42. 3, Jamieson Modersohn, Elma, 9:44. 4, Reef Johannes, Elma, 9:52. 5, Zeke James, Hoquiam, 9:54. 6, Jordan Kain, Elma, 10:10. 7, Jayden Sandoval, Montesano, 10:29. 8, Graham Rupe, Elma, 10:32. 9, Carter Arnold, Elma, 10:36. 10, John De Jesus Ramirez, Elma, 10:46.
Girls team results: 1, Elma 38. 2, Montesano 40.
Girls top 10: 1, Annie Richey, Elma, 10:23. 2, Kamille Vandevender, Montesano, 11:26. 3, Samantha Lubinus, Montesano, 11:30. 4, Marissa Schweppe, Montesano, 12:15. 5, Payton Nowak, Hoquiam, 12:25. 6, Trinity Whipple, Elma, 12:30. 7, Chelsey VanBlargan, Elma, 12:34. 8, McKenna Rieman, Elma, 12:40. 9, Emily Anderson, Montesano, 13:37. 10, Jordan Trudell, Elma, 14:11.
