By David Krueger, Herald Writer
LANGLEY — Going from worst to first in four years is like the Royals almost winning the World Series.
That’s how Arlington High School cross country coach Mike Shierk felt after the Eagles won the district meet Nov. 1.
“This has been a long time coming,” Shierk said. “Four years ago we took 16th out of 16 teams here at this very race. We just kept working away at it. This is awesome. This is the first boys team to qualify for state from Arlington since, I believe, 1977. So it’s been a huge dry spell. It’s like the Kansas City Royals getting in the postseason.”
Arlington completed a worst-to-first transformation, just hanging on to defeat Glacier Peak 55-58 to take the 3A District 1 title at District 1/2/3 1B, 2B, 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A Cross Country Championships at South Whidbey High School.
In the 2A race, Lakewood senior Douglas Davis won and helped his team clinch a spot to state. Davis finished first in 16:24. Alex Cooper also had a top five finish to help Lakewood (88 points), which finished second to Sehome (38). Other Lakewood runners were: 19. James Hafner 17:46, 20. Brandon Shepard 17:47, 43. George Eustice 18:32.
Back in the 3A race, the team scores were almost as close as they could be. Arlington got boosts from Nathan Beamer and Pieter Andrews, who finished third and fourth, respectively. Eagles juniors Zachary Cushman and Matthew Taylor finished together in 14th and 15th place, and Michael Barene rounded out the scoring for Arlington, finishing 19th overall.
“It was close, we weren’t sure,” Shierk said of the end of the race. “We had to check. My buddy had some video, and I was nervously watching.”
Arlington clinched its first district title with Shierk, who is in his 17th season with the Eagles.
The victory meant a lot to the Arlington seniors, who were early in their cross country careers four years ago.
“I was really confident that we would be able to pull off what we had to do,” said Caleb Smith, who finished 31st overall. “We all knew our job. We knew what we had to do. I’ve trusted these guys all season. I knew we were going to do it. … We’ve been ready all season for it. We’re a team. We don’t run as individuals. That’s the big thing. We race as a pack.”
The Arlington girls finished third, clinching a berth in the state meet as well. Shierk was thrilled that his team gets to spend one more week together as it prepares for the state championship in Pasco this weekend.
“The team camaraderie is such a powerful thing,” Shierk said. “And it gives everybody another week to train together and compete together. “With the girls making it, too — that’s just a big deal as far as the depth of the program. We try to emphasize the team aspect of it. We had a lot of individuals step up today, but to have each team make it is huge.”
Oak Harbor’s John Rodeheffer won the race in 15:37. In the team standings, Marysville Getchell was sixth in 202 points and Marysville-Pilchuck last with 338.
