From record-breaking individual performances to ending a 37-year losing streak, we had it all in week four of the 2021 high school cross country season in Washington.
Here is a look at this week's recap from around the Evergreen State.
Boys
Performance of the Week: Lakes' Cruize Corvin
The fastest 5k time of the season belongs to Lakes' Cruize Corvin as he ran a new personal best mark of 15:33 to win the tri-meet versus Wilson and Spanaway Lake.
This is his second win of the season as he won his opener the week prior at Fort Steilacoom running 11:05.9 for the 2.2-mile race.
Corvin ended his freshman season with a 62nd place finish at the 3A State Cross Country Meet with a previous best 5k time of 16:34.6.
Race of the Week: Olympia's Ethan Coleman vs. Yelm's Bryce Cerkowniak
Although it was a 10-second win for Olympia's Ethan Coleman, the race itself was much more competitive till the end.
Easily the biggest win of his career, Coleman defeated Yelm's Bryce Cerkowniak on Olympia's home course at LBA Park running a 5k course record time of 16:07.
To read more about this meet click here.
Team of the Week: Timberline Blazers
The 2021 Timberline boys cross country team hadn't accomplished what any previous Blazers team could do the last 37 years; take down the Capital Cougars.
The Blazers defeated the Cougars by way of their sixth runner to break the tieing score of 28-28 to come away with the win.
Head Coach Kevin Gary said the last time Timberline had defeated Capital was also the last time the Blazers had a team advance to the state meet and included notable alumni such as the University of Portland Head Cross Country Coach Rob Conner and US Marathon Olympic Trials Qualifier Phil Jasperson.
Meet of the Week: Timberline vs. Capital
The 28-28 score between Timberline and Capital was the first tie of the season. As I have already mentioned above, it had plenty of meaning for a program that hadn't defeated their conference opponent in a long time.
Roberto Andino made his season debut for the Blazers placing second overall in a personal best time of 16:44.3 for the 2.84-mile race to lead Timberline.
What was more impressive is Timberline had their top six runners finish in front of Capital's top four, leading to being the deciding factor in who won when the race was all over.
Kobi Smith Cruz was the tiebreaker for Timberline as he finished 10th overall in a time of 19:56.41.
Adam Petersen of Capital won the individual race in a time of 16:05.35.
Other Top Performances:
- Toledo's Nicholas Marty came away with an impressive double this week running 9:14.10 for 3,000-meters on Tuesday and then 17:07 for a 5k on Thursday to win both races.
- Sehome's Zack Munson opened the season with a win on his home course running 13:25 for the 2.7-mile race.
- Central Kitsap's Daniel Lizon comes away with his second and third wins of the season running 13:34 for 4,000-meters on Wednesday and 17:07.6 for a 5k on Saturday.
- Ilwaco's Daniel Quintana ran 15:42 for the 2.95-mile race to win by 80 seconds in a meet hosted by Ocosta.
- Kalama's Addison Smee wins by over two and a half minutes in his season debut running a time of 16:48 for a 5k.
- Columbia River's Daniel Barna picks up his second win of the season running 16:54 for the 5k race to lead the Chieftans to a total of 18 points in their team win.
- Pope John Paul II's Kobe Deutscher runs the second-fastest 5k time of the season in Washington at the Sea-Tac League Meet #2 running 15:59.
- North Thurston's Samir Amin leads the Rams to a perfect 15 points running a first-place time of 13:53 for the 4,000-meter race.
- Bethel's Cameron McCann ran a 5k winning time of 16:13 versus Emerald Ridge to win by 65 seconds for his second win of the year.
- Selah's Cooper Quigley continues to impress early on in his second race of the year, winning another 4,000-meter race in a time of 13:13.
- Kamiakin's Isaac Teeples and Grayson Wilcott finish first and second for the second week in a row running 16:15.40 and 16:33.20 for the 5k race at Walla Walla.
- Chiawana prevails over Southridge in a two-point win, 33-35, led by Owen Stigge's first-place finish in a time of 16:57.9 for the 5k race.
- Curtis' depth leads them to a perfect 15 en route to defeating Peninsula, led by Mason Watamura's first-place run of 10:27.9.
Girls
Performance of the Week: Kennewick's Macy Marquardt
Picking up your first-ever high school racing win is one of the greatest moments of your young career, but how about a one-minute, 41-second victory over your opponent?
Earning herself Runner of the Week honors, Macy Marquardt ran a new 5k personal best time of 18:53.7 in her tri-meet win versus Hermiston and Hanford.
Marquardt had run 19:30.5 her sophomore year at the 3A State Cross Country Meet, but a 37-second improvement puts her in the conversation to be a podium contender the next fall in her senior year.
Race of the Week: Gig Harbor's Kaley Fergus vs. Reese Morkert
When competition on your team is good, it makes for an exciting group of runners.
Gig Habor teammates Kaley Fergus and Reese Morkert went wire-to-wire for the 4,000-meter race to the finish, with Fergus taking the win in a time of 16:20.95.
Morkert would finish half a second behind her teammate in 16:21.46.
Team of the Week: Gig Harbor Tide
The underclassmen for the Gig Harbor Tide played an important piece in their win over Sumner finishing first through fourth as individuals.
Kaley Fergus and Reese Morkert battled it out for the first and second-place finishes, but Grace Moffitt-Friede and Danica Olsen had great races as well running 16:41.62 and 16:59.47 to finish third and fourth.
Three sophomores and one freshman in front of Sumner's No. 1, who was a senior, are positive signs for the Gig Harbor program's future.
Can't forget about Emily Zinter as the Tide's fifth runner placing sixth in a time of 17:26.33.
Meet of the Week: Curtis vs. Peninsula
Coming away with a one-point win is one of the more stressful yet exciting feelings a team can have, but the Curtis girl's accomplished this in one of the more unique ways against Peninsula.
The Vikings had three runners place first through third overall as individuals led by freshmen Eliza White (13:01.89) and Clarie Bird (13:30.2), and junior Claire Mellott (13:30.5). However, Peninsula had something coming that would spark the tension of the race.
All seven of Peninsula's runners, led by Olivia Simmonds (13:44.2, 4th) and Cecily Albrecht (14:00.39, 5th) finished ahead of Curtis' fourth runner to take multiple points away from the Vikings.
In any other scenario, Peninsula would have come away with the win. Still, it wasn't enough as Curtis' Sierra Wangen and Violet Carter were the difference makers in scoring for the meet, placing 11th and 12th running times of 14:43.2 and 14:45.8.
Other Top Performances:
- Meridian's Kayla Aalpoel runs a personal best 5k time of 19:00 to win her second race of the season in a meet versus Blaine.
- Sophomore duo Natalie Peddie and Gracie Buzzell finish first and second running 19:02.7 and 19:07.2, leading Camas to a 23-32 win over Skyview. Freshman Lauren Amato of Skyview was third running 19:21.4.
- Washington's MaryAlice Mitchell, an eighth-place finisher at the 2019 2A State Cross Country Meet, begins 2021 with a two-mile win running 12:48 against Eatonville.
- Ferndale's Jaclyn Denham runs away with her second win of the season at Lake Padden versus Bellingham with a new 2.6-mile personal best time of 15:47.7.
- Union and Anacortes girls continue their early successes with perfect score wins over Mountain View and Sedro-Woolley in 5k races. Jessica Frydenlund led the Seahawks with a first-place run of 19:45, and Charlotte Wilson places first as well for Union running 19:34.
- Washougal's Elle Thomas extends her win streak to three after running 19:33 for a 5k against Fort Vancouver.
- Defending 1B/2B cross country state champion Gabby Martin of Life Christian makes her debut with a win running 19:16 for a 5k in a Nisqually League Meet.
- Defending 1B/2B cross country state team champions Pope John Paul II scored a perfect 15 points in their Sea-Tac League Meet with their first six runners placing first through sixth individually led by Clare Kondrat's winning time of 20:17 for a 5k.
- Emerald Ridge's Emily Wells wins by a minute running 19:26 for a 5k to get her second victory of the year.
- South Whidbey's Kaia Swegler Richmond defeats conference foe Granite Falls' Ellie Bassett in the season-opening Emerald Sound League Meet running 12:28 for the two-mile race.
- Richland's Natalie Ruzauskas runs a season-best 19:01.8 in her 5k win against Southridge and Chiawana.
- Klahowya's Alyssa Becker continues to run fast times early on with another sub-19-minute 5k performance of 18:29.7 in a dual versus Kingston.
- Seton Catholic remains perfect on the year with another team win over Columbia White Salmon and King's Way Christian led by Lara Carrion's first-place run of 18:55.
Something to acknowledge- a Capital girl ran in the boys’ race against Timberline and finished 9th. I believe she would have won it for Capital had her time counted for that race instead of the girls’.