The Langley Middle School cross country team traveled to Lakewood for the Cascade Middle School League Finals. The LMS Cougar runners fared well enough over the 1.75-mile course to win the boys and girls team titles.
Coach Steve Jones explained, “The girls knew they had to run strong to beat a very good Lakewood girls team, and Emma’s leadership all season was a positive influence that made this possible.”
The girls opened the events and raced first. Mallorie Mitchem led the Cougars and placed third overall and first place for seventh-grade girls. Mitchem finished in 11 minutes, 47.3 seconds. Other scorers included Emma Lungren in fifth place, Jackie Abella in sixth, Alyssa Woodberry in eighth and Charlotte Gallelli in ninth. The Langley Cougars girls team beat the second place Lakewood Cougars by a score of 32 to 37.
King’s placed third with 71 points and Granite Falls finished fourth with 97 points. Anna Justus, Edan McGarry, Molli Henderson and Zoe Tapert all finished in the top 20 for LMS.
“One of my goals going into finals was to beat Lakewood,” said Langley eighth-grader Emma Lungren.
The boys raced next, and LMS had to race well to out run a fast King’s team.
Cole Zink led the Cougars and placed second in a time of 10 minutes flat.
Zink was joined in the team scoring by Anders Bergquist in fourth place, Andy Zisette in eighth, Lucas Leiberman ninth and Peter Jacobs 14th.
Leiberman was the first-place finisher among the seventh-grade boy runners. The Cougar boys beat King’s 37-40, with Granite Falls third at 71 points and Lakewood fourth with
75 points. Truman Hood, Joseph Ballestrasse, Jordan Henriot, Evan Teeter and Will Holbert all ran finished in the top 20 for Langley.
Zink, a seventh-grader at LMS, was disappointed with his race.
“One of my goals was to beat Andrew from King’s,” Zink said “But I was able to push myself at an uncomfortable pace for the entire distance.”
Coach Jack Terhar praised Cole for a great race.
“The King’s runner is the real deal, and Zink pushed him the entire race,” Terhar said. “Cole’s outstanding work ethic really showed in that battle. The entire boy’s team had a hand in winning the league finals. The three-point spread in the scores shows how close the Langley and King’s boys were out there on the course.”
Other members of this season’s LMS girls team included Clara Martin, Lizzy Hanzelka, Tiana Brennan, Emily Berg, Ellie Boone, Jamie Detmore, Ingrid Valle, Roslyn Schoeler and Carson Keely-Orr. Other members of the boys crew were Quinn Hassrick, Anthony Kovic, Garrett Poteat, Jeff Meier, Bryce Auburn, Parker Buchanan, Charley Stelling, Christain Jones, Aidan Honnold, Kelly and Kyle Chambers, Jacob Nelson, Max Griswold and Jake Price.
