Last Saturday, November 3, 2007, the Washington state cross-country championships were held at Sun Willows golf course in Pasco, WA. The day was a disappointment for many but a wondrous event for others. Ruby Roberts, sophomore, of Kingston High School took first in the Girls’ 2A division with a time of 18:39.
“[I feel] pretty bad right now,” Roberts said after her race.
Roberts said that she “tried to start out slower,” than other races. She also worried a bit when she was in the lead, although it helped her to know that the others racers were “back there.”
“[It definitely] put our school on the map,” Roberts said about her school’s recent cross-country success.
Last year Roberts finished 13th in the 4A division.
“Hard to compare because of different sizes,” Roberts said
Roberts has been running competitively since 7th grade when she started running track.
The day was also a great victory for Bronwyn Crossman, senior, of Squalicum High School, who defended her title in the 3A Girls’ division with a time of 18:46.
“I came in with the same plan [as last year],” Crossman said. She conserved her energy through the first mile and then made her move by the 2nd mile.
Although she remains state champion in her division her time was “a little slower than last year,” said Crossman.
“[I] tried to look back as little as possible,” Said Crossman.
Miles Unterreiner, senior, of Gig Harbor High School also found great personal victory in Pasco this year, when he won the Boys’ 4A race with a time of 15:39.
Unterreiner’s race plan didn’t exactly work out for him at first.
“2 mile mark, I was going to throw in a surge there. Didn’t work too well, Unterreiner said.
But Unterreiner kept pushing and eventually the competition gave up before he had a chance to.
Although he won the race, Unterreiner said, about possibly winning the team title, “[It would] mean a lot more than the individual title,”
Mead beat out Gig Harbor for 1st place by 4 points.
All of the runners aforementioned were invited to attend Border Clash in Oregon on November 15th, if you’re in the area you may want to set your focus on these runners. That is if they aren’t moving too fast for you to see.
