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POSTED: Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

PREP BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY: Carlyle wins individual 2A title

There were times this season, Sehome junior Scott Carlyle now admits, when he wondered if he would be able to get back to that level at state.

And who could blame him? Battling an ankle ligament injury can be very serious for a cross country runner.

"There were times I was wondering," Carlyle said in a phone interview. "I didn't know if I could or not."

He got the answer he was looking for on Saturday, Nov. 7, winning the Class 2A boys' individual state title at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco with a time of 15 minutes, 47 seconds. Chehalis W.F. West's Dakota Parker finished second, five seconds back, and Burlington-Edison's Tyler Williams was third.

"He was really focused the whole season, even though he had those injuries early on," Sehome co-coach Kevin Ryan said in a phone interview. "He worked really hard at cross training to stay in shape, and that showed today. Scott is a kid that has an amazing race sense. He knows how to break down a course, and he naturally knows when to push and when to lay back."

Carlyle's run helped lead the Mariners to second place in the team race, as Burlington-Edison reclaimed the trophy one year after Sehome wrestled it away. The Tigers finished with 57 points, and Sehome had 85. Squalicum, led by top-15 finishes from Danny Gibson and Kole DeGolier, finished third with 106, as the Northwest Conference teams swept the top three spots for the second straight year.

Sehome also got a podium finish from Eric Schneider, who placed 16th overall in 16:31, a 22nd-place performance from Kyle Szegedi (16:39), a 30th-place run from Nate Wilson (16:49) and a 32nd-place finish from Calvin Collander (16:50).

But the race belonged to Carlyle, who finished in the top four for the second straight year and now joins Jake Riley (2006), Alex Grant (2002) and Brett Allsop (1987) as Sehome individual boys' champions.

"Scott made his move at the right time," Ryan said. "The W.F. West runner, Parker, tried to close on him, but it was too late."

That's saying quite a bit, considering Parker is the defending 2A state champion in the 800.

"I could hear the crowd, so I knew he was getting close," Carlyle said. "But I really didn't know until the end ... I knew he was going to have something to show late, so I just tried to go earlier so I didn't have to deal with his kick."

Carlyle said Saturday's win made up for all the frustrations he felt early in the season, when the ankle injury kept him out of competition and practices for the first half of the season.

Carlyle did most of his early-season training riding a bike on his trainer just to stay in shape.

"My dad helped me a lot," he said. "He knows a lot about injuries from some previous injuries he had, and he gave me a lot of advice. He just told me to stay in shape so that I would be ready to go when I healed."

Fortunately for Carlyle and Sehome, the injury was long-since forgotten about on Saturday.

"I think it's great for Scott," Ryan said. "It's great for the program and the tradition we have here. He definitely earned it."

The Mariners almost earned a repeat championship, as well, as Connor Whan, one of the two Burlington-Edison runners competing up front with Carlyle for the win, collapsed near the finish line.

Whan managed to crawl across the finish line in 19th place to help preserve enough points to lift the Tigers to the win.

"Burlington-Edison and Sehome are tough," Gibson said. "It's pretty neat that it went 1-2-3 from our conference and 1-2-3-4 from our district. These are the guys we've been running with all season."

Gibson led another strong Squalicum finish, running his usual race at his own pace.

"He was about 25th a mile in and came back to finish seventh," Squalicum coach Peter Oviatt said in a phone interview. "You know, a typical race from Danny. He runs his own pace and came on really strong at the end."

Gibson, who finished in 16:16, said he was pleased to help Squalicum to its second consecutive top-three finish with the help of fellow senior DeGolier, who ran a 16:28.

"Man, it's been a joy to run with this program the past four years," Gibson said. "And to work with coaches like Coach Irvin and Coach Oviatt, that's one of the coolest experiences I will ever know. It was great to help this team finish strong again."

Bellingham got a podium finish from Nick Lobb, who was 15th in 16:30.

"We're real happy for Molly (Leischner), Allie (Reynolds) and Nick," Bellingham coach Bill McClement said in a phone interview. "Their performances today showed tremendous improvement by all three."

Mount Baker's Connor Williams was 38th in 16:56, while Blaine's Tom Bradley was 49th in 17:09.

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.

CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Pasco

5,000 meters

Team scores: 1. Burlington-Edison 57, 2. Sehome 85, 3. Squalicum 106, 4. Lakewood 139, 5. Ellensburg 170, 6. Mark Morris 192, 7. Colville 222, 8. Interlake 257, 9. Chehalis W.F. West 260, 10. Selah 264; 11. Cheney 266, 12. Toppensih 280; 13. Deer Park 290; 14. Kingston 303; 15. Washougal 316; 16. Centralia 370.

Individual top 10: 1. Scott Carlyle (Sehome) 15:47; 2. Dakota Parker (W.F. West) 15:52; 3. Tyler Williams (Burlington-Edison) 16:01; 4. Dylan Croeni (Washougal) 16:13; 5. Taylor Guske (Lakewood) 16:14; 6. Antonio Morales (Burlington-Edison) 16:16; 7. Danny Gibson (Squalicum) 16:16; 8. Nathan Power (Burlington-Edison) 16:23; 9. Andy Robertson (W.F. West) 16:25; 10. Jeffrey Ott (Ellesnburg) 16:25.