The Aberdeen cross-country program had a banner day on Wednesday, sweeping individual races and earning a team title at the 2A Evergreen Conference Championships at Pioneer Park in Tumwater.
Senior Henry Nelson led the Bobcats boys to the overall team championship with a victory in the boys 5K varsity race.
Nelson won with a time of 16:55.28, cruising to a victory over Tumwater’s Joshua Morgan, who placed second with a time of 17:06.53.
Aberdeen and Tumwater placed first and second, respectively, in the team-title race as eight of the top 10 runners – which constitutes all-league commendations – were made up of Bobcats and Thunderbirds.
Freshman Cecil Gumaelius (17:11.25, 3rd), Jacob Hallak (18:08.13, 5th) and Toby Nelson (18:23.99, 9th) each joined Henry Nelson as Aberdeen all-leaguers.
The team competition came down to the fifth and final placement figured into the overall team score for both the Bobcats and T-Birds. Aberdeen junior Zeke Olson placed 18th with a time of 19:03.06 while Tumwater’s fifth runner, Landon Martin, placed 27th overall, giving the Bobcats the team title.
The boys team championship was Aberdeen’s first since 2011 and third overall, having previously won the award in 1972.
“We were looking to run as a team today and it was a really good showing for us,” Aberdeen head coach Steve Reed said. “We had a goal from the beginning of the year that we were hoping to win league. Working as a team the whole season and learning to run together in groups, they were working on that today. We knew at some point one of the kids is going to have a bad race, it’s just inevitable, but somebody else always moves up and runs well in their place and that’s kind of the team thing we’ve been doing. … It’s a real team effort when you do it that way. The kids are really close and when someone has to step up, they do.”
In the girls varsity race, Aberdeen’s Ailyn Haggard continued her stellar sophomore season with a league-championship run of 18:54.77, placing first by more than 1:30 seconds over Tumwater’s Alexandra Broome (20:27.04, 2nd).
Fellow Bobcats sophomore Serenity Allread earned all-league honors with a time of 24:21.07 to place 10th.
It wasn’t just Aberdeen High School that found success at the meet as Miller Junior High’s boys team won their league championship with 31 points, well ahead of Shelton’s Oakland Bay (76) and Tumwater’s Bush (81)..
Miller’s Oliver Cech won the boys league title with at time of 8:43.71 to place first overall. Cech was joined on the all-league list by teammate Trenton George (8:52.87, 4th).
Miller’s team score was rounded out by Jack Nelson (9:40.87, 6th), Rylon Wilson (9:48.20, 8th) and Liam Cech (9:56.62).
The girls’ 2,400-meter middle school race was won by Adalyn Friberg, who won the league championship with a time of 10:23.39.
Miller’s girls team placed third with 83 points.
“They ran really smart,” Reed said of the middle-school winners. “They followed the person they were expected to follow the entire race and then out-sprinted them at the end. … (Miller head coach) Jeff Hatton and (Miller assistant coach) Jim Daly are doing a fantastic job at the junior high.”
Next up for Aberdeen is the 2A District 4 Championships on Thursday at the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.
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Results
Boys team standings: 1, Aberdeen, 36. 2, Tumwater, 43. 3, Centralia, 64. 4, W.F. West, 81. 5, Black Hills, 134.
Boys individual (top 10): 1, Henry Nelson, Aberdeen, 16:55.28.
2, Joshua Morgan, Tumwater, 17:06.53. 3, Cecil Gumaelius, Aberdeen, 17:11.25. 4, Zane McAferty, Tumwater, 17:26.48. 5, Jacob Hallak, Aberdeen, 18:08.13. 6, Ethan Weiher, Centralia, 18:08.53. 7, Landon Anderson, Tumwater, 18:09.14. 8, Hayden Newman, Tumwater, 18:17.55. 9, Toby Nelson, Aberdeen, 18:23.99. 10, Seth Thomasson, Black Hills, 18:24.29.
Girls team standings: 1, Centralia, 39. 2, Black Hills, 46. 3, Aberdeen, 65. 4, W.F. West, 76.
Girls individual (top 10): 1, Ailyn Haggard, Aberdeen, 19:54.77. 2, Alexandra Broome, Tumwater, 20:27.04. 3, Elyse O’Dell, Centralia, 21:52.93. 4, Mercedes Ricks, W.F. West, 23:22.79. 5, Eva Stout, Centralia, 23:23.05. 6, Esther Hopkins, Centralia, 23:24.41. 7, Averie Reynolds, Black Hills, 23:31.25. 8, Maddie Knight, Black Hills, 23:32.18. 9, Makenna Legault, Black Hills, 23:55.37. 10, Serenity Allread, Aberdeen, 24:21.07.