It was a cross country feat 40-years in a the making for a group of big-hearted high school long distance runners. Yes, four decades.
After winning the KingCo 4A Conference and then the District Championships, the Mount Si High School Girls Cross Country Team headed to Pasco this past weekend for the November 7th 4A State Championship Meet.
The Mount Si Boys Cross Country Team also joined along for the State Championships after placing 4th at the District Finals – a meet which they entered seeded 7th.
And the runners left amidst a huge school send off, too. Hundreds of students crowded the school entrance to wish the teams good luck as they boarded the bus Friday and headed east of the Cascades for the big meet.
Both teams had a strong showing in Pasco, with the MSHS Girls Cross Country finishing 3rd at the State 4A Championships and the Boys Team placing 11th. The girls actually finished tied for second place, but a tie breaker based on the finishing time of the team’s sixth runner put Lewis and Clark High School one spot higher.
The sister and brother running team – junior Hannah and freshman Joe Waskom of Snoqualmie – finished in the top 20, along with senior Melissa Hruska.
Big sister Hannah saved her best [race of the season] for last. She ran the 5k state title race in a personal best time of 18:04.2 – which landed her on the podium with the second best time of the day. Hruska placed 19th with a time of 18:40.5.
Little brother Joe logged the best time of the day for the Mount Si boys team, finishing in 18th place with a time of 15:45.4.
Mount Si Cross Country is coached by Christine Kjenner and Sean Sundwall. Congratulations!
