PASCO - One point.
That\'s all that separated the Lakewood High School boys cross country team from a trip to the awards podium Saturday at the state championships at Sun Willows Golf Course. Lakewood scored 169 points to finish fifth in Class 2A behind fourth-place Ellensburg (168), which hoisted one of the trophies presented to the top four teams.
But even before meet officials announced the final team scores, Lakewood co-head coach Jeff Sowards made it clear that he was proud of how his runners attacked the 3.1-mile course. No hardware, or lack of hardware, was going to change that.
\"They ran really well. They were tenacious the whole race,\" Sowards said.
Lakewood finished one spot higher than its No. 6 ranking in the Washington State Cross Country Coaches\' Poll. The team\'s top three runners were Taylor Guske (23rd place in 17 minutes, 23 seconds), James Ervin (36th, 17:38) and Nick Devier (39th, 17:45).
\"They (executed) a great race plan,\" Lakewood co-head coach Jon Murray said.
Burlington-Edison scored 55 points to win the team title. Race winner Jake Riley (15:51) headlined Sehome\'s second-place showing.
Lakewood capped a challenging season that began around the time when team member Scott Skiles died in a car accident on Aug. 29. Skiles, who was 17 and would have been a senior, placed second at state last year and would have been among the favorites this year.
Lakewood runners had Skiles in their hearts all season, but the emotion was no greater on Saturday than at any other point this fall, Cougars coaches said.
\"I don\'t think there was any extra inspiration taken from (Skiles) not being here, but I think all season (it\'s been there),\" Sowards said.
Asked about what he said to his team after the race, Sowards said, \"In general, we told them how proud we were of them and reminded them that this is a pretty cool thing that we get to do,\" referring to traveling to the state meet.
2A girls race
Third-ranked South Whidbey seemed ready to challenge for one of the trophies awarded to the top four teams. But a poor start doomed the Falcons, South Whidbey coach Doug Fulton said. \"We got out a little slow through the (1-mile) mark and it\'s tough to (fight) through the pack,\" said Fulton, whose team placed sixth.
Sequim senior Stephanie Marcy won the race in 18:28, and freshman Annie Moore\'s third-place performance sparked Sehome\'s run to the team championship.
South Whidbey senior captain Katy Gordon took 17th (20:07), ninth among team-scoring runners. It was Gordon\'s fourth state meet appearance.
\"She had a great career at South Whidbey. Four times at state is a great accomplishment,\" Fulton said.