The road to repeating as Class 4A cross country state champ for Gig Harbor likely will be an uphill climb.
But judging by the Tides' performance Saturday at the Capital Invite at Capital High School in Olympia, hills aren't likely to be an obstacle.
Gig Harbor dominated the 40 Northwest high schools in attendance, winning both of the boys varsity races and placing second and fourth in the girls senior-class race, while taking third in the girls junior-class race.
Junior Miles Unterreiner utilized some helpful advice on hills from Gig Harbor coach Patty Ley and stormed through the 2.23-mile course to win in a time of 11:51.81.
"People can't see you, so you can pick up a lead without them knowing," Unterreiner said of the hills. "You can get a big gap on them – so I try and surge down the hills."
Senior Charlie Williams followed suit, winning his race with an 11:41.13.
"Before, the hills seemed like monster hills," said Williams, who had run the course twice. "But we've been doing monster hills in our workouts. Coach just told us to charge the hill, get to the top and just go and use that momentum."
On the girls' side, Sequim senior Stephanie Marcy (13:36.59) prevailed, using a little hill strategy of her own to hold off Gig Harbor's Kesslee Payne (13:56.86).
"My strength is hills, so I was really prepared for that," Marcy said.
Marcy said she took over the lead after making a couple of passes on a hill at the rear of the course. After finishing third behind two Gig Harbor runners at last year's race, Marcy was determined to finish strong this year.
"They beat me last year," she said. "My goal this year was to stay with them or get them."
Jesuit of Portland's Adrianne McGuirk (14:13.11) edged Northwest Christian's Joscelyn Minton (14:27.18) and Gig Harbor's Anna Kalbrener (14:34.22) to win the junior race.
Ley said despite the solid performances by the Tides, there is still some work to do.
"This was a really nice start," Ley said. "We had some good, solid performances, but parts of the team are a little bit late developing."
The fire by the Tides to repeat at state was evident, as several runners were excited about how well the team ran against Jesuit, one of the top cross country programs in the national rankings.
"We knew they were going to be here, so we just tried to bring it," Kalbrener said.
The champs relished the opportunity to show off for their rivals to the south.
"We never really see them, so it's good to go head-to-head with them," Ley said. "It was great for the kids – it gives them a little extra motivation."
Cochran wins at Bellarmine Invite
Judging from her performance Saturday morning, Bellarmine Prep junior Nicole Cochran is ready for the cross-country season. She took first in the girls portion of the Bellarmine Invite with a time of 11 minutes, 3 seconds, breaking former teammate Brie Felnagle's record set on the 2-mile course in 2004.
Cochran placed fifth in state last year.
Snohomish won the team title for the girls, while Bellarmine placed third. Blanchet's Jeremy Swenson won the boys event with a time of 9:48.08, helping the Braves win the team title.