Bellarmine Prep’s Borsheim, Charles Wright’s Briejer capture cross country titles
Bellarmine Prep High School freshman Ella Borsheim showed the Class 4A girls cross country field on Saturday that they have another three long years ahead of them.
Junior Adam Briejer of Charles Wright Academy let the 1A boys runners around the state off the hook — they only have to worry about him one more year.
Together, they’re bringing individual state championship trophies home to the South Sound after winning their respective races at Saturday’s state cross country championships at Sun Willows Golf Course.
Borsheim kicked it into overdrive after the 2-mile mark, and ran away with the 4A girls title, beating runner-up Julia David-Smith of Issaquah, and third-place finisher Taylor Roe of Lake Stevens — a former two-time champion in the race.
The trio kept within 0.3 seconds of each other through the first 2 miles. Had the race just been 2 miles, David-Smith would have won. She barely had the lead at that point.
“I knew I needed to be patient,” Borsheim said. “I’ve run against Julia before. I hadn’t run against Taylor, but I knew she’d be up front.”
Borsheim made a move after the 2-mile mark. So did David-Smith.
“Ella and I gapped Taylor at that point,” David-Smith said. “She didn’t come with us.”
Despite the fact she is a freshman, Borsheim said she wasn’t intimidated by the field. She finished the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 36.10 seconds, to complete a perfect season.
“This is my first state meet, but I’ve had some cross country experience with some clubs,” Borsheim said. “I admit I was a little nervous. But, the goal was to go after the win.”
Glacier Peak took the team title easily with 77 points.
Tahoma freshman Faith Martinez had a strong showing, placing eighth, while Maggie Butler of Curtis finished 10th out of 162 runners.
Meanwhile Briejer, who stands 6-foot-5, was looking to improve on his fourth-place finish as a sophomore in 2017. But, during track last spring, he hurt himself.
“I got a stress fracture during track,” he said. “So, it put me behind in training for cross country. I didn’t get any base training. I didn’t even really feel I (was) where I needed to be when this season began. It wasn’t until we got to districts that I felt I was where I needed to be.”
Briejer had a plan.
“The first mile, I was going to try to take it easy,” he said. “I didn’t want to go out hard and die.”
That still put him out front of the pack, but he had company with Meridian’s Nathan Schneider and Cascade of Leavenworth’s Landon within reach.
“The second mile, I still didn’t want to go out hard,” Briejer said.
He was still in the lead, but two more runners had joined the group, all within 1 second of each other.
“It wasn’t until we were 2 ½ miles out that I decided to go harder,” Briejer said.
His long strides started giving him a bigger lead.
“I don’t know (if my long legs) help me in cross country,” he said. “But they help me more with the 800 and 1,600 in track.”
By the time Briejer reached the finish line, he had the title with a time of 16:19.50 — a full 8 seconds ahead of runner-up Schneider.
Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls and Cascade of Leavenworth tied for the team title with 113 points.
CLASS 4A BOYS
Mt. Si’s Joe Waskom, headed to Washington next year to run, moved steadily up through the pack, then out kicked Eisenhower’s Jonas Price to win the individual title with a time of 15:16.2.
Thanks to Ethan Martin’s 10th-place finish, Tahoma won the team title with 94 points, just two points ahead of Central Valley.
Auburn Riverside’s Marcus Sutrick placed eighth.
CLASS 3A BOYS
Kennewick’s Johan Correa pulled away from Bainbridge’s Sebastian Belkin and Kamiakin’s Ryan Child over the final half-mile to win in 15:26.40.
Belkin finished second with a time of 15:29.20, Child was third at 15:32.90.
Bradley Peloquin of Gig Harbor was among a group six runners at the 1-mile mark who were in their own lead pack. And, by the time the group had reached the 2-mile mark, it had been narrowed down to four runners and Peloquin was in the lead.
Peloquin lost a little yardage by the 3-mile marker, and no one could stay with Correa’s final kick. Peloquin placed fourth with a time of 15:33.30.
Kamiakin won the team title for the second consecutive year with 37 points.
CLASS 3A GIRLS
Spokane’s North Central dominated the team race again, with sophomore Allie Janke winning in 17:59.10.
Her teammate, Erinn Hill, who won the individual 3A girls title last year, placed third. Kennewick’s Geraldin Correa was sandwiched in between the two Spokane runners for second.
North Central also won the team title for the second consecutive year, easily outdistancing the field with 21 points.
Lincoln senior Patience Mwaura, the sister of former two-time 3A boys champion James Mwaura, finished fifth with a time of 18:46.30.
“I tried to get up there among the first three girls,” she said. “I’m a late bloomer to cross country. I just started last year. I did well. I needed to be at 5:47 at the first mile, and I got there at 5:42. I’m going keep pushing hard and run next year somewhere in college.”
CLASS 2A BOYS
Pullman junior Eliason Kabasenche edged out Ridgefield’s Kyle Radosevich for the individual championship, with a time of 15:44.70.
Sehome won the team title with 84 points.
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Washougal senior Amelia Pullen out-kicked Bellingham’s Annika Reiss in the second mile to take the individual crown.
Pullen crossed the finish line in 18:04.50, while Reiss clocked in at 18:29.40. It was the third time in her career that Reiss had finished second at state.
But, Reiss did help her team take a share of the team title, tying West Valley of Spokane at 118 points.
Washington’s Maryalice Mitchell placed fifth.
CLASS 1A GIRLS
Naomi Smith of King’s ran away from the field in the final half-mile to take the individual title.
Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls won the team title with 108 points.
CLASS 2B/1B BOYS
Adna’s Austen Apperson successfully defended his title, easily outdistancing the field with a time of 15:56.40 — 25 seconds ahead of the next closest runner.
Northwest Christian of Lacey won its fifth consecutive boys team title with 59 points.
CLASS 2B/1B GIRLS
Liberty Bell’s Novie McCabe also defended her individual title with ease, beating her closest competitor by 49 seconds.
Life Christian freshman Gabby Martin was the runner-up at 19:16.2.
Liberty Bell also won the team title with 56 points.