It was a 5-7-8 finish for the Tahoma boys cross country team this past Saturday, as the Bears ran to the Westside Classic 4A boys district meet title at American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood.
Senior Kelton Sears paced Tahoma with his fifth-place finish in 15 minutes, 50.2 seconds. Teammates Casey Campbell, a junior, and senior Phil Lussier, finished in seventh and eighth place with a 16:12.3 and a 16:14.1, respectively.
“I’m really happy,” Sears said. “We all ran our race today and it ended up beautifully, with Casey and Phil. They finished right with each other. When I saw that, I was, ‘Yeah, right on.’ That was exciting for me.”
The performance by that trio helped the Bears claim the team title with 70 points. Gig Harbor was second with 91, giving Tahoma a nice bit of revenge. Last year, the Tides edged Tahoma for the championship, 60-61. The Bears have won three of the past four district crowns.
For the first half of the race, Sears navigated the muddy fairways and trails at American Lake with the pack of front runners, including eventual meet champ Shane Moskowitz of Central Kitsap, before striking out on his own.
“About midway through (the pack broke up),” Sears said. “I like to run with the front for the first half and then just do my own thing the rest of the way and just go as hard as I can.
“It was muddy, but at Tahoma where we run, we’re used to running in tall grass and among rocks,” Sears added. “So it was actually kind of nice for us.”
Sears finished 36 seconds behind Moskowitz, who ran the 3.1-mile course in 15:14.3.
Senior Jimmy Creek finished 21st and Chris Marx was 32nd at the meet to round out Tahoma’s scoring. Wiley Duerson took 43rd and Zach Brown was 46th.
Next stop for the Bears will be Saturday’s state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. Last season, the Bears finished third at state, and Sears was 25th individually.
“We’ll be cutting back a little this week,” Sears said. “On Monday, we’ll go hard, and then the rest of the week, we’ll cut back and get ready for that state meet.”
• ALSO: The Tahoma girls finished second behind defending champion Gig Harbor. The Tides had 52 points; the Bears had 96. Hannah Mittelstaedt led Tahoma, taking sixth with an 18:54.7, a personal record for the junior. Teammate Julianna Mock, a freshman, finished ninth individually with a 19:13.1. Lauren Clawson was 17th with a 19:29.5. … Kent-Meridian’s D.J. Jigre qualified for state with his 15th-place finish in 16:30.1 finish. Royals teammate Derrick Daigre also will compete in Pasco after finishing 22nd. Kent-Meridian was ninth in the team standings. … Also qualifying for the state meet were: Jesse Agents of Kentridge, who finished 17th, and Tim Pettit of Kentwood, who was 28th. … On the girls side, Kentwood sophomore Kailey Ulland qualified for a Pasco trip by taking 15th place. She will be joined by Kent-Meridian freshman Alexia Martin, who was 25th.
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