LANGLEY — It can safely be said that the runners in this weekend’s 2A District 1 Championships in cross country took a little bit of South Whidbey home with them.
If not in their hearts, then somewhere else. Probably in their hair. Or their mud-spattered legs or dirt-caked running shoes.
To be sure, few runners seemed spared by the rugged — some might say sloppy — condition of the 5K course. A few weeks of rain turned the course to a muddy mess in places, and huge mud puddles awaited the athletes elsewhere on the route. Most runners were wearing part of the course by the time they were done.
“It was actually pretty fun,” said South Whidbey cross country runner Chantal White, who finished the 5,000 meter in 21:28.43 for the Falcons team.
“It definitely wasn’t great conditions,” she said. “But it was almost comforting to know that everyone had to run through it.”
Falcon Will Melish said he saw a few runners slip and fall during the 2A race. He slightly changed the way he ran, he said, to stay upright.
“You kind of avoided certain areas on the course,” he said. “Where you saw the big areas of mud, you tried to avoid it. Around corners, you’d take them a little bit wider than you usually do.”
Melish completed the course in 22:30.20.
Like others on the Falcon team, Melish said his performance was hurt by a recent bout of sickness.
“I felt that I could have done a little bit better,” he said.
“I wasn’t feeling well the last couple of weeks, so I wasn’t expecting a massive PR,” Melish said.
Falcon McKenzie Walker said many of the runners on the girls team have been sick, as well.
“We got hit pretty hard,” she said.
White agreed.
“There were a lot of people who were sick and injured. But we did do really well considering all the circumstances,” White said.
Falcon coach Doug Fulton said South Whidbey was still missing several athletes due to the flu, and most of those who ran were less than 100 percent.
“If we had been healthy we would have contended for a top-four finish and a berth to state,” Fulton said.
The South Whidbey girls team came in seventh, with 199 points.
Cedarcrest was first with 59, while Sehome came in second (80), and Bellingham (96) was third.
It was only the third time in the past 21 years that the Falcon girls team has missed qualifying for state, Fulton said.
But the future is not bleak, he added.
“The freshman girls have made tremendous progress this year, and coupled with our returning upperclassmen, our future looks bright,” he said.
The Falcon boys team came in 13th, with 361 points. Burlington-Edison was first with 38 points, followed by Sehome (70) in second, and Squalicum (76) in third.
Blake Koszarek finished first for the Falcons with a time of 17:56.14; good enough for the 41st spot.
Scott Carlyle of Sehome was the 2A winner, with a time of 16:25.04.
Kevin Rookstool of South Whidbey finished with a time of 19.22.20, followed by Scott Warwick (19.23.18), Ben Saari (19:40.83) and Michael Cavender (21:44.35).
“Blake Koszaek had one of his best runs of the season,” Fulton said.
Fulton also heaped praise on the dozens of helpers who put on the meet.
“We had a great group of volunteers who have spent countless hours preparing and running this great event,” he said.
In the girls 2A race, Rhiannon Alexander of Granite Falls finished first in 19:12.32
South Whidbey’s Lillianna Stelling finished first for the Falcon team in 21:02.73 for the 28th spot overall. White followed, trailed slightly by Emily Martin with a time of 21:29.23.
Marina Kovic came in at 22:35.93, followed by Walker (22:47.23), Taya Jae (22:54.04) and Nora Felt (24.25.05).
Walker said the team expected to face a challenging course — as well as some of the best runners in the state — at Saturday’s district championships.
It was also the last race for Walker, a senior on the cross country team.
“It was a good race to remember it by, since it was so muddy. It made it more memorable.”
