Cross country state roundup: Trio of South Sound runners seize titles
Cruize Corvin pumped both fists, screaming to the heavens as he crossed the finish line.
He was officially a state cross country champion. The Lakes runner — on his fourth and final chance — finally reached the top of the 3A podium at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday.
“I was just thinking, ‘I actually did it,’” Corvin said Saturday. “All of my hard work paid off.”
No competitor came close to Corvin’s time of 15:30.10.
Runner-up Brody Hartley (Walla Walla), a senior and Notre Dame commit, finished nearly ten seconds later. Third-place sophomore Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet arrived 21 seconds after Corvin.
His time wasn’t just the fastest time in 3A; it was the fastest of any classification by seven seconds.
Lakes finished fifth in team scoring, an improvement from an 11th-place finish in 2021. Lancers senior Zander Trevino, Corvin’s friend and four-year teammate, finished eighth Saturday.
“That was awesome,” Corvin said of the team finish. “I think it’s the highest coach (Joe) Clark has ever coached, so it was really cool to do that with a team like (this).”
Corvin never trailed. After a mile in front, he pressed for the remainder of the 5,000-kilometer course and battled what he said were 25 mile-per-hour winds.
“It feels really good to be the best of the day and best in the state, no matter the division,” he said.
The neighboring 3A girls race supplied enough drama for the entire afternoon. Gig Harbor senior Reese Morkert seized a state title via photo finish, narrowly defeating Central Kitsap’s Clare Herring by one-tenth of a second.
“She dipped at the line,” said Tides coach Patty Ley, “and to pull it off is absolutely amazing.”
Emerald Ridge’s Conner Wirth secured the 4A boys title, completing the trio of South Sound state champions. Details from Saturday’s dozen races are listed below:
4A
BOYS: Emerald Ridge senior Conner Wirth seized Saturday’s title, joined by a pair of fellow 4A SPSL runners atop the podium. Wirth’s time of 15:37.40 edged Rogers’ Issac Briggs by two seconds (15:39.70). Tahoma’s Ryan Lewis finished third (15:53.60).
GIRLS: Skyline’s Anna Callahan won her title race convincingly, ahead of Saturday’s entire field by 20 seconds.
Tahoma won the team title; all seven Bears runners finished inside the top-63.
Curtis’ Eliza White (runner-up) and Bellarmine Prep’s Alison Whalen (sixth) joined Callahan atop the podium.
3A
BOYS: Cruize Corvin’s time bested the entire state, helping secure his first individual title and Lakes’ fifth-place team finish. Teammate and fellow senior Zander Trevino finished eighth, joining Corvin on the podium.
Lakes’ team finish was coach Joe Clark’s best in his 29-year tenure at the helm of the Lancer program.
Gig Harbor senior Micah Galeana was the 3A SSC’s lone representative on the podium, finishing sixth. The Tides finished fourth as a team.
Seattle Prep’s program won the team title, aided by three runners in the top 15 and six in the top 60.
GIRLS: Gig Harbor coach Patty Ley knew of Reese Morkert’s strong chances of emerging victorious Saturday, but she couldn’t have predicted the drama that preceded the senior’s state title.
A photo finish deemed Morkert the champion by one-tenth of a second, besting Central Kitsap’s Clare Herring with a time of 18:24.10.
“She’s been in some really close races over the years,” Ley said Saturday. “As her teammates came in, she was taking care of them.
“I think it just didn’t settle in.”
Morkert took home the individual title, but Herring’s runner-up performance powered Central Kitsap to the team title. Gig Harbor was team runner-up.
“Central Kitsap really brought it all year long,” Ley said of Gig Harbor’s league rivals. “Hats off to them.
“(Our) ladies ran really well today, top to bottom. I was proud of them.”
Stadium’s team took fourth, backed by an eighth-place finish by Madeline McKenna (18:56.00). Auburn Riverside’s Julia Couch (18:55.40) placed seventh.
2A
BOYS: Zack Munson dominated Saturday’s field, crossing the finish line at Sun Willows nearly 20 seconds before the next competitor.
Munson, a Sehome senior, clocked in at 15:37.00, trailing only 3A’s Cruize Corvin as the fastest time among all classifications.
A pair of local runners represented the South Sound on the podium. Tumwater senior John Hoffer (16:11.00) claimed a fifth-place finish; Steilacoom junior Caleb Wilcox (16:18.10) finished seventh.
Bellingham won the team title despite rostering only six runners in Pasco. All finished in the top 61, and three finished inside the top 15.
GIRLS: East Valley of Spokane’s Logan Hofstee took home Saturday’s individual title, besting the field by more than 20 seconds at Sun Willows (18:00.60).
Sehome secured a team title, using a top-40 finish from all seven runners.
Foss sophomore Katie Mingus placed fifth overall, earning a spot on the podium (19:15.10).
1A
BOYS: Medical Lake’s Reid Headrick led after the first mile and never surrendered the winning pace with a 16:01.00 time and title victory Saturday.
Bush took home the team title; all seven runners finished inside the top 100.
GIRLS: Seton Catholic’s Alexis Leone won the 1A girls title, defeating the field by over 36 seconds on Saturday (18:22.30).
Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls seized Saturday’s team title.
1B/2B
BOYS: Ciaran St. Hilaire won convincingly, cruising to victory with a title-clinching time of 16:27.40.
Chewelah was the team champion, helped by four runners in the top 16.
GIRLS: A flurry of early finishes secured Pope John Paul II’s second-consecutive state title and third in team history.
In 2019, Pope John Paul II won its first team title — just the second year of the program’s existence. Moriah Steinbrecher led the way (11th), and five of her teammates inside of the top 27.
Within seconds of Steinbrecher’s arrival at Saturday’s finish line, a trio of Pope John Paul II runners followed: Adeline Hecht (14th), Taylor Ames (15th), and Bella Kondrat (16th).
Saint George’s Josie McLaughlin secured the individual 1B/2B title with a winning time of 19:40.30.
This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 1:35 PM.
