Cross-country - Washington's Gig Harbor Girls Just Miss Another State Title and Chance at History

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Washington State's 2008 Prep Cross-Country Championships taught the Gig Harbor High School girls' team a really disappointing lesson in knowing just how close is not close enough.

After winning 3 consecutive state titles in the 4A state championship competition, Gig Harbor fell 1 point short in the team competition Saturday (11-8-08) at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco, settling for the runner-up spot.

Had they won, the girls would have set the Washington State record with 4 consecutive titles. Only two other 4A teams in state history have won 3 consecutive titles. Bellarmine Prep accomplished the feat in 1977, 1978 and 1979, and Issaquah matched the feat in 1985, 1986 and 1987.

So close and yet so far. Eastlake High School of Sammamish nipped the Tide runners 97 to 96. Eastlake's runners finished 14th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 25th, 40th and 72nd. Gig Harbor's runners finished 1st, 16th, 17th, 30th, 33rd, 44th and 48th. Each team has 7 runners but only the first 5 runners finishing figure in the team scoring.

Since Eastlake's 5th scoring runner was 25th, it did not matter that Gig Harbor's last two runners finished 44th (sophomore Kelly Williams in 20:05) and 72nd (senior Ashley Horton in 20:42).

Senior Alyssa Andrews of Gig Harbor won the 5000 meter run (3.1 miles) in 18:00 flat to become the state 4A champion. She could not have done any more for her team. Sophomore Brittany Kealy was 16th and junior Erin Hull was 17th, they both finished in 19:21 and did their job. Sophomore Danie Moon was 30th in 19:47 and senior Claire Betterbed was 33rd in 19:50.

Gig Harbor could have won its 4th consecutive title and set a new record if either Danie Moon had run 2 seconds faster and finished 28th rather than 30th, or Claire Betterbed had run 3 seconds faster over the 3.1 miles and finished 31st rather than 33rd. Two seconds faster or 3 seconds faster does not seem like that much unless your are running the 3.1 mile race in the highest level of competition.

Saturday's result for the Gig Harbor girls underscores the importance of the 4th and 5th scoring runners during competition. When they are running behind it seems as if the value of their effort is diminished when in fact their importance becomes more valuable with each stride they take. Reaching down deep and passing just a couple of runners near the finish can make the difference between winning a state title and losing a state title.

Eastlake ran a great race and its spread was only 29 seconds between its first and last scoring finisher. Gig Harbor's spread was 1:40, 71 seconds more. This is one reason why team running is emphasized in cross-country. Your best runner does not have to finish among the top 10 or 13 runners to win a state championship.

Coach Patty Ley and her girls were pretty disappointed to say the least. However, Gig Harbor did amazingly well considering that only one runner—eventual state champion Alyssa Andrews—returned from last year's state championship team. Their finish was a testimony to Ley's coaching and the tremendous winning tradition the Gig Harbor girls have built.

The Tide girls preceded their state meet finish by winning their 4th consecutive West Central District III championship at the American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood. Alyssa Andrews won the individual title in 17:45 to lead Gig Harbor to the title.

The Gig Harbor boys had a tougher go of it in the state 4A run, finishing 7th overall with 192 points. Mead High School of Spokane won the title with 98 points, racking up its 14th state championship in cross-country. Mead's runners finished 8-9-24-27-30 with a 30-second spread.

Mead is legendary in Washington State, producing more top distance runners than any other prep school. Mead won 9 consecutive state titles from 1988 through 1996, and added 3 more titles from 2000 to 2002, making it 12 titles in 15 years. That is dominance by any standard.

Gig Harbor's top boy finisher—junior Conner Peloquin—was 10th in 15:55. He was followed by sophomore Robby Ubben in 37th at 16:31, senior Chris Adgar-Beal in 43rd at 16:35, junior Spencer Payne in 49th at 16:40, senior Alex Sundell in 53rd at 16:44, senior Nate Funkhouser in 88th at 17:29 and sophomore Casey Kalbrener in 89th at 17:30.

Clearly, the girls rule at Gig Harbor at the moment.