Bellingham freshman wins district title; Sehome sweeps team crowns

Freshman Annika Reiss continued to shine in the postseason for the Bellingham girls’ cross country team, as she claimed the individual title at the Class 2A Northwest District Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, at South Whidbey High School and helped the Red Raiders qualify for next week’s state championships, in the process.

Sehome also made sure it will have a chance to defend its 2A state titles from last fall, as the Mariners earned trips back to state by sweeping the district titles.

They will be joined next weekend in Pasco by Bellingham’s Cade Brown, Blaine’s Parker Morris and Squalicum’s Grace Oswin, who all earned individual invitations to state on Saturday. The Northwest District will send its top four girls’ teams and any other runners that placed in the top 20 on Saturday to state this year, while the boys received only three team bids to go along with any other individuals that placed among the top 15.

Reiss left little doubt that she would be headed to Pasco, as she turned in a winning time of 19 minutes, 54.40 seconds on the 5,000-meter course — more than five seconds ahead of Sehome’s Abby Johnson (19:59.91).

“It was muddy for everybody,” Bellingham coach Bill McClement said. “I think it was a race where the idea was to come through it pretty carefully — keep the pressure off. Annika appeared to take off from the pack with about a mile to go.”

Red Raider teammates Grace Much (14th in 21:06.66), Quincy Gale (22nd in 21:27.24) and Sophia Laws (24th in 21:33.94) joined Reiss in the top 25 for Bellingham, which scored 89 points.

Sehome led the way with 63 points, beating out Anacortes’ 74 and Cedarcrest’s 75 after placing all five scoring runners among the top 20 — Johnson, Kate Rose (seventh in 20:39.96), Claire Rowan-Arnett (17th in 21:12.55), Dana Ringler (18th in 21:12.81) and Emma Hageman (19th in 21:13.25). As if that weren’t impressive enough, the Mariners’ No. 6 runner, Emma Clark, placed 21st (21:21.28).

“It was as weird race,” Sehome coach Kevin Ryan said in a phone interview. “It went out super slow, so you had this mob for the first mile. Abby ran really well, and so did Kate. A real good run by Claire — she’s usually our No. 6 and she was our No. 3 today.”

Oswin earned her spot in state by placing 16th in 21:09.67.

Brown was the top Whatcom County boys’ finisher, as he claimed third in 16:43.69, behind only Anacortes’ Dylan Holland (16:10.62) and Archbishop Murphy’s Josh Rauvola (16:40.12).

While Brown, a sophomore, will be making his second trip to state, Morris will be making his fourth appearance after he placed 10th in 17:06.73.

“It was not at all a sure thing that he would make it,” Blaine coach Carey Bacon wrote in an email. “Great performance by him.”

The same could be said for the Sehome boys, who beat out Cedarcrest (84 points) and Burlington-Edison (111) with 36.

Riley Allsop led the way for the Mariners in fourth (16:44.78) and was followed by Colton Johnsen in fifth (16:52.17). Sam Gillman (seventh in 16:59.01) and Bryce Johnson (ninth in 17:03.58) also scored top-10 finishes, while Logan Franey (11th in 17:08.45), Kyler Cruz (14th in 17:14.63) and Jackson Slesk (16th in 17:22.79) gave the Mariners all seven runners in the top 20.

“Everyone finished in the top 16, so almost everybody qualified individually,” Ryan said. “We ran a conservative game plan today. We didn’t let them go for it so we can save it for next week.”

Allsop, Johnsen, Gillman and Bryce Johnson were all a part of the team that won the 2A state title last year, while Abby Johnson and Ringler are the only returning runners on the girls’ side for Sehome. Brown, Gale and Lizzie Hanks (43rd in 22:49.18) are Bellingham’s state returners, while Oswin, a sophomore, will make her second state appearance.

The Bellingham boys just missed qualifying as a team, finishing fourth with 122 points, while Squalicum placed 10th with 253, Blaine was 12th with 286 and Lynden 13th with 294. On the girls’ side, Squalicum placed seventh with 194 points.

CLASS 2A NORTHWEST DISTRICT BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

CLASS 2A NORTHWEST DISTRICT GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Bellingham freshman wins district title; Sehome sweeps team crowns."