Forgive the Wolfpack if they are still seething a little.
After two consecutive seasons of missing a trip to districts by just one place, Sequim’s boys cross country squad had hoped to exact some revenge by blowing past all challengers at last week’s Olympic League meet.
They nearly did it, taking second place by just three points to Kingston.
Instead of sending Adrian Clifford and Mikey Cobb to districts — as they did last fall — Wolves are taking the squad to Tacoma on Oct. 27 for the West Central District meet.
And they’ll have company, as Sequim’s girls cross country squad got a gutsy performance from injured senior Jasmine McMullin to earn the fourth and final league berth to districts.
Clifford, a senior, echoed his fifth-place finish from 2011 with another fifth-place finish, finishing just under 17 minutes (16:59), while Cobb, Sequim’s other district qualifier from 2011 as a freshman, was eighth with a 17:12 mark.
Sequim sophomore Peter Ohnstad was 15th, freshman C.J. Daniels was 19th and junior Dylan Chatters was 27th overall to round out Sequim’s top five.
"It’s looking really good for us," Clifford said. "Kingston’s strong (but) we’re right there."
Devon Jacob led Kingston’s Buccaneers to the title with a second-place finish, 24 seconds behind league champion Kyle Tupper of Port Angeles.
Coach Harold Huff his Sequim boys were disappointed to come so close to topping the Bucs.
"It could have been a little better, but that’s what it’s going to take to beat Kingston," he said.
North Kitsap’s boys were third and Port Angeles picked up the fourth and final district berth.
"If they (Sequim’s boys) are on top of their game, they can make it to state," Huff said.
On the girls’ side, No. 2-ranked North Kitsap had no trouble with the field as they beat No. 8-ranked Kingston by 27 points for the team title. The Vikings, led by senior star Reagan Coyler, took three of the top four individual spots.
Port Angeles was third and Port Townsend was fourth.
Sequim led, by freshman Emily Webb (19th place), was fifth, but takes the fourth berth to districts because Port Townsend is a 1A school.
"As a group, they ran well," Huff said. "Emily’s just run great this year."
McMullin missed several weeks with a stress fracture in her foot, but went out and ran to a 28th place finish, one spot ahead of teammate Siana Turner. Amelia Ohnstad was 33rd and Brianna Albright was 47th.
"I wanted to help the team," McMullin said. "I felt like we all did what we needed to do."
On to the Classic
The Westside Classic, the West Central District cross country meet, is Saturday, Oct. 27. The meet brings together 109 teams from 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A classifications to American Lake Golf Course, southwest of downtown Tacoma and just north of Fort Lewis.
Sequim competes with runners from 20 other class 2A teams. On the boys’ side, the top six teams and 30 individuals advance from districts to the state meet, while the top five teams and 25 individuals from the girls’ meet earn state berths.
The class 2A state meet is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3, at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
Last year, Clifford was the lone Wolf to advance to state, placing 60th overall with a 17:03 mark, his first appearance at the prep final.
Timberwolves sweep in middle school races
It was a clean sweep for Sequim Middle School’s boys and girls cross country squads at the Olympic League meet, held moments before the high school races at The Cedars at Dungeness on Oct. 18.
Erin Vig led a dominating performance by the SMS girls, who topped Stevens (Port Angeles) by 13 points in team scoring (21 to 34), while Blue Heron of Port Townsend didn’t manage a team score with just four runners.
Vig finished the 2,500-meter course in 10:55, about four seconds better than Blue Heron’s Kyama-Mar Bradley. Noelle Bittner was third, Elizabeth Rosales was fifth and Alisha Grasses was sixth to help lead the charge.
On the boys’s side it was much closer, but Sequim’s August O’Shea edged out Tristin Butler of Stevens by less than half a second for top honors, and a strong top four helped the Timberwolves top their rivals from Port Angeles by six points for the league title (32 to 38).
Hayden Crane (third), Andrew Hanstad (fifth) and Isaiah West (seventh) were Sequim’s other top finishers.
Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.
