Behind strong showings at the 3A KingCo championships Saturday at Lake Sammamish State Park, both the Mercer Island girls and boys cross country teams advanced to next week’s Sea-King district meet.
The Islander girls finished second as a team, while the boys placed third to make the top-three district cut.
“It’s just a phenomenal team effort across the board,” Mercer Island coach Erica Hill said. “Watching the way that people rallied together and stepped up for each other, it’s just an outstanding group of kids. They seized the opportunity today.”
The Mercer Island girls had five runners finish in the top 15. Cece Rosenman led the way, placing fourth at 19:19.67. Chloe Michaels was seventh (19:33.45), Mary Rose Vu finished ninth (19:40.57), Kayla Lee was 10th (19:42.95) and freshman Maggie Baker placed 11th (19:49.45).
Bellevue’s Katherine Penner won the girls 5K for the second year in a row, finishing in 18:32.17. The Wolverines also won the girls race as a team with an overall score of 32. In second place, Mercer Island tallied a score of 41, and Interlake rounded out the top three with a score of 66.
Interlake dominated the boys 5K with finishers in four of the race’s top five spots. Luke Beauchamp won with a time of 15:56.92. Ben Stoops finished eighth for the Islanders at 16:45.10, and Nate Benson placed 15th with a time of 17:10.88.
The Saints earned the top team spot with score of 23. Juanita was second, scoring a 42, and Mercer Island was third with a score of 76.
Interlake’s boys and girls JV teams also won their respective meets. Interlake’s Dante Paszkeicz won the JV boys race at 17:20.66. Islander Katherine Brodsky won the JV girls race at 21:27.68.
The district berths were the 19th consecutive for both the Islander girls and boys teams. Now, the focus shifts as both teams will vie for a second-consecutive trip to the state tournament.
“They’re getting stronger every week, and I feel that they’re peaking at the right time,” Hill said. “I want them all to feel like they’re ending on a note where they’ve achieved what they want to achieve, but right now we’re at that place where there’s still a couple more weeks of moving forward.”
