Max-imization plan a success

The bigger, badder Max O\'Donoghue-McDonald feels no pain, never sweats after races and mows down rugged cross-country courses with ease, in time for dinner and homework.

It might not be much of an exaggeration. O\'Donoghue-McDonald, who won the Class 3A state cross-country title as a lanky junior, has since packed 20 pounds of muscle on his 6-foot-3 frame, most of it in his core and legs.

On Thursday, the Seattle Prep senior powered free from a tightly-packed field just after the two-mile marker at chilly, hilly Lower Woodland Park to win the Sea-King 3A District boys championship.

His time of 15 minutes, 36 seconds, a week after he smashed the 3.1-mile course record in 15:22, also led Seattle Prep to the boys team title in the last tuneup before next week\'s state meet in Pasco. Seattle Prep sophomores Erik Berg and Charlie McDonald finished ninth and 10th.

\"Our team goal is to win. My goal is to win,\" O\'Donoghue-McDonald said of his expectations for state. \"I know I\'m going to have to run the best race of my life to win.\"

Abdi Hassan, a Nathan Hale senior, finished second Thursday in 15:46. Matt Frerker, a senior at Skyline of Sammamish, finished third. Sean Morris, a Bishop Blanchet senior who finished fourth, was one of four Braves to place in the top 11, good for a second-place team trophy.

Advancing to state are the top 25 boys finishers and the top five teams, which also include Skyline, Bellevue and Issaquah.

In the girls race, Holy Names junior Chelsea Burns overcame a sore left kneecap and led almost wire-to-wire, winning in 18:55. Burns was 23 seconds faster than Jillian Altizer, a Newport sophomore who helped the Knights from Bellevue take the girls team title.

Burns said she was surprised at her finish, considering that pain forced her to miss last week\'s Metro League championships.

\"I was swimming and icing it, hoping I\'d be able to run today,\" she said. \"I didn\'t know I was going to win.\"

Mary Wuest, an Issaquah senior, finished third and Breanna Deutsch, an Eastside Catholic junior, finished fourth. Freshmen finished fifth through ninth, led by Mercer Island\'s Molly O\'Callahan.

Advancing to state are the top 20 girls finishers and top four teams, which also include Holy Names, Bishop Blanchet and Mercer Island.

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