By Brandon Cossel
Journal Reporter
KIRKLAND — Redmond freshman Devin McMahon was shocked that she had indeed crossed the finish line before anyone else.
Her strong run, along with a second-place finish from teammate Sarah Lord, powered the Mustangs to the team title at the Class 4A District 2/4 cross country championships on Saturday at Finn Hill Junior High.
\"The whole race I thought there was a girl way in front of me that I couldn\'t see,\" McMahon said. \"And then I finished and they told me I won. I said \'What?\'\"
The lead shifted throughout the race with Mountain View\'s Lauren Breihof holding an early advantage after one lap around the 3.1-mile course.
By the second circuit, Bothell\'s Paige Pattillo had grabbed a sizable lead, but Pattillo trailed McMahon by a few strides as the course wound onto the track.
Then McMahon made her move, sprinting the final straightaway to claim the title. Lord also passed Pattillo late to take second.
\"I was just thinking about wanting our team to win and just passing the next person,\" McMahon said.
The top three runners were only seperated by seven seconds. McMahon finished in 18 minutes, 52 seconds, followed by Lord at 18:56 and Pattillo at 18:59.
It was the second time McMahon had beaten Lord, who won the 4A Kingco meet last week. Redmond coach Denis Villenueve thought some of McMahon\'s breakthrough was due to the winding, hilly nature of the course.
\"She\'s so tiny and you\'ve got all these ups and downs and turns,\" he said. \"She doesn\'t have much weight to pick up and move. I think she took advantage of that and felt pretty good today.\"
Redmond edged Kingco champion Eastlake 36-46 thanks to finishing nearly a third of the top 15 runners. Jillian Jaccard took 10th, Chelsea Smith grabbed 15th and Jenny Light was 16th. The top four teams advance to the state meet in Pasco next Saturday.
The Mustangs were coming off a second place finish at Kingco. In each of their previous meetings, the two schools had been very close.
\"Last week at Kingco the girls felt like, as a team, they didn\'t all run their best,\" Villenueve said. \"It\'s a great rivalry with Eastlake and the girls said it was their turn to come back and have a great race as a team.\"
Looking ahead to next week, Villenueve said the Mustangs\' goal will be to top the school\'s previous top finish, which is sixth place.
Eastlake was led by four freshman in the top 13— Chelsea Orr (6th), Erin Blodnick (7th), Sara Fester (11th) and Janie Dwyer (13). Sophomore Ashley Horton also took 20th.
Kayla Schick took 19th to lead Woodinville, which took fourth place.
Pattillo and the Inglemoor duo of Rachel Williamson (12th) and Liz Russell also advanced to the state meet as individuals.