ARLINGTON - Ferndale senior Joshua DeVenere didn't let the absence of his usual training partner get in the way of his goals this year.

Instead, he found a couple of new runners to train with - fellow Golden Eagle seniors Connor and Logan Jungkuntz. All the partnership ended up doing was taking all three to the Class 3A State Championships.

Connor grabbed a repeat win at the Class 3A Northwest District Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Lakewood High School, as he pulled away over the second half of the race to win in 16 minutes, 5.9 seconds. His twin brother will join him at state again, as for the second straight year he finished fourth in 16:28.0. And this year DeVenere will make the trip, as well, after he placed 10th with a time of 16:57.0.

"It's great to get to go with those two guys," DeVenere said. "I've been running with them for four years, and it's great to be able to get to run with them one more time. They've really helped me get to this point. When my training partner didn't come out this year, I had to find somebody else to work with and pace off of. Connor and Logan had always been in front of me, so I started working to try to catch them."

Nobody could catch Connor on Saturday, as he started to pull away midway through the muddy 5,000-meter course.

"I knew Carter (Osborne from Shorecrest) was going to be tough and he was going to push me a little bit," Logan said. "He was right there for a while. ... The entire key is to get some yardage between yourself and the next guy, and then you don't have to worry as much about them."

Mountlake Terrace's Jack Pearce finished third, but Logan put some pressure on him near the finish.

"Last year I came in with the second fastest time and finished fourth," Logan said. "This year I came in fourth and finished fourth, so I guess I'm a little bit happier about that. I thought I might have a chance to catch Jack (Pearce), but I couldn't do it, and the kid from Oak Harbor (John Rodeheffer) ended up putting some pressure on me."

In spite of the three top 10 finishes, Ferndale was unable to get the entire team through, as the Golden Eagles finished sixth with 135 points. Only the top three teams and any other individuals placing among the top 15 earned trips to state.

Oak Harbor won with 67 points.

The Ferndale girls' team also missed out in a district race that was dominated by winner Amy-Eloise Neale (17:13.5) and her Glacier Peak teammates. Ferndale placed sixth with 168 points.

Freshman Jillian Anderson and senior Makalee Latta just missed qualifying individually, as Anderson finished 18th in 20:29.1 and Latta was right behind in 19th in 20:44.5.

"It's a little intimidating your first time here," Anderson said. "My goal was to finish in the top 15 and go to state, obviously, but I also wanted to finish around 20 minutes. I didn't quite get there, but I thought I ran pretty good, especially considering the conditions."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2286.

CLASS 3A BOYS ON TO STATE

Runner School

Connor Jungkuntz Ferndale

Logan Jungkuntz Ferndale

Joshua DeVenere Ferndale

Girls' Cross Country

CLASS 3A NORTHWEST DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday's results

At Lakewood High School

Team scores: 1. Glacier Peak 21, 2. Oak Harbor 83, 3. Stanwood 176, 4. Marysville-Getchell 126, 5. Shorecrest 133, 6. Ferndale 168, 7. Mountlake Terrace 152, 8. Shorewood 212, 9. Meadowdale 221, 10. Everett 254, 11. Marysville-Pilchuck 280.

Top individual finishers: 1. Amy-Eloise Neale (Glacier Peak) 17:13.5, 2. Katie Bianchi (Glacier Peak) 18:02.6, 3. Haley Suarez (Meadowdale) 18:30.9, 4. Mikayla Ingram (Glacier Peak) 19:03.1, 5. Megan Davis (Glacier Peak) 19:15.5, 6. Christina Wicker (Oak Harbor 19:17.3, 7. Gigi Vujovich (Shorecrest) 19:29.1, 8. Rachael Lefstad (Marysville-Getchell) 19:35.7, 9. Samantha Northrop (Glacier Peak) 19:38.2, 10. Jonalynn Horn (Oak Harbor) 19:39.0.

Ferndale: 18. Jillian Anderson 20.29.1, 19. Makalee Latta 20:44.5, 39. Mikaela Hernandez 22:02.3, 41. Jana Peterson 22:08.4, 51. Taryn Knutsen 22:54.4, 54. Elise Freeman 23:09.6, 62. Jada Rivera 24:20.6.

Boys' Cross Country

CLASS 3A NORTHWEST DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday's results

At Lakewood High School

Team scores: 1. Oak Harbor 67, 2. Glacier Peak 77, 3. Shorewood 98, 4. Mountlake Terrace 114, 5. Stanwood 115, 6. Ferndale 135, 7. Shorecrest 176, 8. Meadowdale 196, 9. Everett 211, 10. Marysville-Pilchuck 259, 11. Marysville-Getchell 274.

Top individual finishers: 1. Connor Jungkuntz (Ferndale) 16:05.9; 2. Carter Osborne (Shorecrest) 16:13.6; 3. Jack Pearce (Mountlake Terrace) 16:16.9; 4. Logan Jungkuntz (Ferndale) 16:28.0; 5. John Rodeheffer (Oak Harbor) 16:30.9; 6. Keenan Stephens (Shorewood) 16:38.3; 7. Tanner Nieman (Stanwood) 16:40.2; 8. Dominic Giordano (Meadowdale) 16:44.4, 9. Keagan Smith (Glacier Peak) 16:51.3; 10. Joshua DeVenere (Ferndale) 16:57.0.

Ferndale: 1. Connor Jungkuntz 16:05.9, 4. Logan Jungkuntz 16:28.0, 10. Joshua DeVenere 16:57.0, 54. Roberto Aguilera 18:32.2, 66. Kaleb Palmby 19:04.4, 70. Matthew Steiber 19:31.0, 77. Madison Choat 20:43.1.

Reach DAVID RASBACH at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2271.