Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY: Nooksack Valley races to first team title in school history

Clean this up Nooksack Valley coach Nic Castona knew the Class 1A State Cross Country Championships team title was in close reach before the meet began, but its main hurdle was a strong Port Townsend squad.

Nooksack Valley had finished second behind Port Townsend in the Class 1A tri-district meet last week at the American Lake Golf Course.

"Especially with Port Townsend, going into it, there were four or five teams that could win it," Castrona said in a phone interview. "Port Townsend beat us last week, and I knew they'd be tough this week too."

Despite Port Townsend's top duo Bereket Piatt and Habtamu Rubio finishing first and second with times of 16 minutes 10 seconds and 16:23, respectively, the Nooksack boys' cross country team had all seven runners turn in times less than 19 minutes, winning the state title with 99 points to Port Townsend's second-place 111 points on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Pasco's Sun Willows Golf Course.

The title was the first Nookack Valley cross country state championship in school history.

"The seven guys raced pretty tough together, and that's an understatement," Castrona said. "I give credit to my boys. We forgot about times and results and really went out there."

The Pioneers were led by senior standout Oliver Bear Don't Walk, who finished fourth overall and ran to a Sun Willows personal-best time of 16:38. Jarrod Birkett, who finished second for Nooksack Valley, placed 22nd overall and finished with a 17:34 time - also a Sun Willows personal best.

Last year at state, Nooksack Valley did not qualify as a team, but Bear Don't Walk finished 11th with a 16:42 time and Birkett finished 38th in 17:38.

"Nobody had ever run here before except for Olie and Jarrod," Castona said. "And we knew if our third, fourth and fifth place boys did well no one could beat us."

Following Bear Don't Walk and Birkett for Nooksack Valley was Connor Jackson (17:35) in 25th place, Mitch Beard (17:41) in 29th place, Forest Crouse (18:10) in 53rd place, Jordan VanDyken (18:23) in 64th place and Trevor Parsons (18:55) in 94th place.

Bear Don't Walk said although he didn't achieve his overall goal, which was to win the individual state title, he couldn't be more happy for his team to come in first.

"I wanted to go with the lead pack within the first mile, and I knew if I moved with them the last two miles, I could be prepared for anything. I finished fourth, but still did better than last year," Bear Don't Walk said in a phone interview. "We didn't know the results right after we finished, but by the time the results were announced everyone was jumping in a big group and crying."

Seattle Christian came in third with 128 points and last year's state champs Lakeside came in fourth with 164 points. The Northwest Conference also was represented by a sixth-place Lynden Christian team with 190 points and Meridian in eighth place with 194 points.

Meridian's top finisher was Sam Ryan, who finished in 30th with a 17:41 time.

Lynden Christian's top runner Jacob Hollander finished eighth overall, crossing the finish line in 16:55 and moving up from his 30th-place finish last year at state.

"Jacob had a really good showing and was a lot closer to Oliver than he has been the last couple of weeks," Lynden Christian coach Darren Postma said in a phone interview. "He stayed with a pack of guys that were the eighth through tenth spots after the first mile, and was really able to go for it and out-kick some people at the end."

Hollander said his team did great as a group to progress and this season, even though the competition around them also improved.

"We all did what we were supposed to and improved. This is the best team we've had in a while, but the competition has gotten a lot better too. If this was a different year, maybe we could have done better team-wise," Hollander said. "We have a solid group to re-build upon next year."

CLASS 1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sun Willows Golf Course, Pasco, Wash.

5,000 Meters

Team results: 1. Nooksack Valley 99; 2. Port Townsend 111; 3. Seattle Christian 128; 4. Lakeside 164; 5. Charles Wright Academy 189; 6. Lynden Christian 190; 7. La Center 192; 8. Meridian 194; 9. Chelan 227; 10. Royal 238; 11. Cashmere 242; 12. Toledo 249; 13. Freeman 260; 14. Zillah 308; 15. Onalaska 311; 16. Kiona Benton 326.

Top Individual results: 1. Bereket Piatt (Port Townsend) 16:10; 2. Habtamu Rubio (Port Townsend) 16:23; 3. Max LeBerge (Charles Wright) 16:37; 4. Oliver Bear Don't Walk (Nooksack Valley) 16:38; 5. Michael Cross (Seattle Christian); 6. Roman Velazquez (Cashmere) 16:51; 7. Ethan Tonnemaker (Royal) 16:53; 8. Jacob Hollander (Lynden Christian) 16:55; 9. Harris Hap Emmons (King's) 16:56; 10. Colton Berry (Lakeside) 17:01.