Union’s Fuller back on top at 4A district cross country meet

In the boys race, Camas senior Said Guermali also used a strong final kick to pull away from Skyview sophomore Chanse Gilbert.

Fuller likely would have been a four-time district champ if not for the once-in-a-generation talent of Alexa Efraimson. The past two years, Fuller had finished second to the Camas star, who turned professional over the summer.

Thursday, Fuller raced like a seasoned veteran. She hung with a lead pack of Jenkins and Camas senior Alissa Pudlitzke, waiting until the final stretch to make her move.

She kicked into another gear coming down a forested hill just before the race’s final straightaway. Pudlitzke faded to third, suffering a gash on her shoulder from hitting a tree on that final downhill.

“She has always been really smart about managing her efforts throughout the race,” Union coach Scott Eschels said of Fuller. “She has one of, if not the, fastest kicks in the state as long as she can hang during the race. If it comes down to 150 meters, I would bet on her every single time.”

Jenkins saw first-hand Fuller’s sprinting ability.

“When we got to the bottom of the hill, she started speeding up,” Jenkins said. “I knew I had to start kicking it in. I tried to stick with her as long as I could. I was just happy that we were almost done.”

This year, Clark County 4A schools won’t go to a bi-district meet. That raised the stakes at the district race, where the top two teams and top 10 individuals qualify for the state meet Nov. 8 in Pasco.

Camas easily won the girls team title with 24 points to second-place Union’s 57. Behind Jenkins and Pudlitzke, Emily Wilson placed fifth, Maddie Woodson sixth and Kaylee Merritt eighth.

In fourth place, Mountain View’s Savanna Craig was the only state qualifier not on Camas or Union.

With 22 points, Skyview easily won the boys team title placing all five scoring runners in the top seven. Behind Gilbert, Ethan Bauer was third, defending champ Kaden Harbertson was fourth, Zeke Oien was sixth and Mason Scheidel was seventh.

The drama was in which boys team who would capture the second berth to state. Camas beat Union 54-70 as the five Papermakers finished in the top 18.

Union had three individual state qualifiers with Jordan Moore in fifth, Miguel De La Melena in ninth and Tristan Robins in 10th. But Union’s fourth and fifth runners were 22nd and 24th.

After Thursday’s dominating team performance, Skyview is setting its sights high for state.

“We’ve been kinda joking about how we want to win state,” Gilbert said. “But now I think we can do that. It would be really cool.”

Guermali is also confident heading into state. The senior spent the past week recovering from a cold, but had the strength to finish in 16:04. That was 49 seconds faster than his time last year on the same course, when he finished fourth.

“I just tried to stay calm,” Guermali said. “I waited until the hills, then attacked a little bit. I’ve been working a lot on my strength this year. I felt I had a shot. Things turned out well.”

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

CLASS 4A DISTRICT MEET

At Lewisville Park, 5,000 meters

x-state qualifier

Team scores — x-Skyview 22, x-Camas 54, Union 70, Mountain View 77, Battle Ground 154, Evergreen 178, Heritage 196.

Individual champion — Said Guermali (C) 16:04.

SKYVIEW — 2, Chanse Gilbert 16:06; 3, Ethan Bauer 16:22; 4, Kaden Harbertson 16:25; 6, Zeke Oien 16:28; 7, Mason Scheidel 16:30.

CAMAS — 1, Said Guermali 16:04; 8, Yacine Guermali 16:31; 13, Nicholas Carter 16:57; 14, Adam Ryan 17:00; 18, Dustin Zimmerly 17:13.

UNION — x-5, Jordan Moore 16:26; x-9, Miguel De La Melena 16:41; x-10, Tristan Robins 16:43; 22, Jarad McKinney 17:43; 24; AJ England 17:47.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — 11, Birkley Ramberg 16:44; 12, Josiah Burson 16:56; 15, Samuel Johnson 17:03; 16, Lucas Aguilar 17:06; 23, Josh Eddy 17:45.

BATTLE GROUND — 20, Quinn Neson 17:19; 32, Curtis Brown 18:29; 33, Aaron Dhanens 18:43; 34, Kellen Butler 18:48; 35, Jonas Matson 18:48.

EVERGREEN — 29, Richard Dyer 18:18; 31, Tyler McGrath 18:23; 36, Tony Sciortino 19:08; 39, Brian Reyes-Anguiano 19:26; 43, Benito Giron 19:54.

HERITAGE — 26, Keaton Spiller 17:56; 38, Sanjeet Singh 19:24; 42, David Keller 19:44; 44, Koby Portes 20:12; 46, Jacob Allen 20:34.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

CLASS 4A DISTRICT MEET

At Lewisville Park, 5,000 meters

x-state qualifier

Team scores — x-Camas 24, x-Union 57, Heritage 107, Mountain View 111, Battle Ground 131; Skyview 138, Evergreen 147.

Individual champion — Alexis Fuller (U) 18:34.

CAMAS — 2, Emma Jenkins 18:35; 3, Alissa Pudlitzke 18:43; 5, Emily Wilson 19:06; 6, Maddie Woodson 19:17; 8, Kaylee Merritt 19:32.

UNION — 1, Alexis Fuller 18:34; 7, Cassie McKinney 19:24; 9, Allie Connell 19:48; 19, McKinsey Breier 21:33; 21, Misun Chong 21:47.

HERITAGE — 12, Victoria Kehler 20:02; 15, Darlina Rose 20:26; 16, Naomi Moulton 21:22; 29, Savanah Kehler 22:21; 35, Alina Svirdan 22:40.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — x-4, Savanna Craig 19:01; 14, Lauren Mahnke 20:25; 27, Roxanne Hannam 22:10; 32, Hazel Wallin 22:31; 34, Bailey White22:38.

BATTLE GROUND — 18, Christina Klug 21:28; 25, Danielle Russell 21:58; 26, Katelynn Franklin 22:05; 40, Madelin McClellan 23:19; 41, Alexandra Walker 23:25.

SKYVIEW — 13, Megan Condon 20:22; 17, Ellen Burbank 21:28; 33, Emily Hogan 22:32; 36, Hannah Van Nortwick 22:48; 39, Shelby Lee 23:19.

EVERGREEN — 20, Leia McWilliams 21:39; 23, Victoria Luebkeman 21:50; 28, Tori Duong 22:17; 30, Ashley Lodmell 22:24; 46, Katelyn Counts 24:35.