Meridian entered the Class 1A Girls' Cross Country State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco knowing it had a good shot to bring home a trophy, and that's exactly what it did.

The Trojans placed fourth with 141 points behind champion Riverside's 70, Lakeside's 78 and King's 127.

"It was one of our goals to get to the award stand," Meridian coach Mike Holz said in a phone interview. "We didn't have one of our best days racing top to bottom, but the reality is we're coming home with a trophy, and we're quite proud of that. Those top two teams would have been tough to beat. We got King's last week (at the tri-district meet), but we just couldn't do it this week. I think we raced solid, just not great."

Freshman Mimi Meggison led the way for the Trojans with an eighth-place finish in 19 minutes, 36.1 seconds. Sydney Gray (32nd, 20:34.9), Jayna Edmonds (39th, 20:55.0) and McKenzie Roque (42nd, 20:56.7) also had top-50 finishes for the Trojans.

Lynden Christian placed seventh with 184 points. Marissa Hielkema was the top Lyncs finisher in 27th (20:28.3), while McKenzie Young was 55th in 21:15.6.

"Our girls were happy with how they ran," LC coach Darren Postma said. "The all ran real solid. We had a nice tight pack. Our two through four runners were only 25 seconds apart, and I was really happy with how we ran. We moved up a spot from eighth to seventh, and we bring back our top six runners next year, so that is a good sign."

Mount Baker got a couple of strong individual performances from senior Rachael Hatcher (13th, 19:49.0) and junior Kelsie Nern (23rd, 20:43.9), while Nooksack Valley freshman Amy Murphy finished 45th (21:00.6).

Cedar Park Christian's Sally Larson won the individual title in 18:38.5.

WHATCOM COUNTY RESULTS

Pl. Runner Yr. School Time

8. Mimi Meggison Fr. Meridian 19:36.1

13. Rachael Hatcher Sr. Mount Baker 19:49.0

23. Kelsie Nern Jr. Mount Baker 20:43.9

27. Marissa Hielkema Jr. Lynden Christian 20:28.3

32. Sydney Gray Sr. Meridian 20:34.9

39. Jayna Edmonds Sr. Meridian 20:55.0

42. McKenzie Roque Jr. Meridian 20:56.7

45. Amy Murphy Fr. Nooksack Valley 21:00.6

55. McKenzie Young So. Lynden Christian 21:15.6

62. Brianna Rutgers So. Lynden Christian 21:23.3

63. Julia Morris So. Lynden Christian 21:25.1

69. Sarah Ball Fr. Lynden Christian 21:39.9

82. Arissa Alvarez Sr. Meridian 22:12.0

87. Ally Visser Fr. Lynden Christian 22:19.2

105. Emily Visser Sr. Lynden Christian 23:03.9

114. Tiana Pratt So. Meridian 23:20.5

118. Katie Edmonds So. Meridian 23:42.0

CLASS 1A STATE MEET

Saturday's results

At Pasco

Team results: 1. Riverside 70, 2. Lakeside 78, 3. King's 127, 4. Meridian, 141, 5. Northwest 160, 6. Cedar Park Christian 172, 7. Lynden Christian 184, 8. Medical Lake 202, 9. South Whidbey 210, 10. La Center 269, 11. Kalama 291, 12. Zillah 307, 13. White Salmon 338, 14. Elma 338, 15. Royal 366, 16. Hoquiam.

Top individuals: 1. Sally Larson (Cedar Park Christian) 18:38.5; 2. Hazel Carr (Northwest) 18:41.1; 3. Kacey Kemper (King's) 18:42.2; 4. Lindy Jacobson (Lakeside) 19:08.4; 5. Gabrielle Rudolph (Montesan) 19:08.8; 6. Sofia Marikis (Lakeside) 19:26.5; 7. Camille Moore (Bush) 19:26.7; 8. Mimi Meggison (Meridian) 19:36.1; 9. Mikayla Shuler (Riverside) 19:38.1; 10. Angela Knishka (Cashmere) 19:38.4.

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