BATTLE GROUND — It was nearly a perfect day for the Prairie girls cross country team Wednesday. And the Columbia River boys didn’t have a bad day either.
Led by junior Nicole Goecki, the Prairie girls swept the first six places to easily capture the Class 3A district championship at Lewisville Park.
Goecke raced through the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes flat to post a 49-second victory over teammate Lindsay Tompkins.
Other Prairie teammates followed: Jamie Ferris (18:15), Lindsay Asplund (18:41), Nicole Tompkins (19:13) and Lana Ferris (19:16).
That means Prairie’s first non-scoring runner was faster than the other five teams’ No. 1 runner.
Columbia River freshman Grayson Burke was the first non-Prairie runner to cross the finish line in 19:17 in a photo finish ahead of Mountain View’s Kara Krebs.
The three teams and top 15 individuals advance to the Westside Classic regional meet in Tacoma on Oct. 27. Columbia River placed second to Prairie’s 15 with 68 points and Kelso edged out Mountain View for the third spot with 87 points.
Mountain View’s Krebs and Hanna Walton earned individual regional berths along with Cheyenne McCoy and Katy Parker from Fort Vancouver.
River’s Austin Blankenship was beat out for first place in the boys race by Kelso’s Nick Mounier. Mounier finished in 15:05, and Blankenship was clocked at 15:09.
But the Chieftains claimed five of the first seven spots to earn the team title with 22 points over Kelso’s 50. Mountain View placed third with 89 points.
River’s Nicolas McMillan (third, 15:24) and Miles Park (fourth, 15:36) also finished in the top five.
Earning individual regional berths were Justin Ledridge of Fort Vancouver, and Eddie Campos, Dalton Mitchell and Altair Winguth of Hudson’s Bay.
