Boys State Cross Country: Radosevich guts out second-place finish

PASCO – Kyle Radosevich never hinted at how much he was hurting.

Under his Ridgefield singlet, kinesiology tape covered his abdominal muscles. In winning the 2A district title on Oct. 25, Radosevich had strained a muscle in his midsection.

Even breathing was painful.

“The first couple days it was just stabbing,” he said.

Until three days ago, Radosevich didn’t know whether he would race Saturday at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships.

Radosevich not only raced, he nearly won the 2A state championship. The Ridgefield senior led for much of the 5,000 meter race at Sun Willows Golf Course until he was passed in the final 800 meters by Pullman’s Eliason Kabasenche.

Radosevich placed second in 15 minutes, 48 seconds, four seconds behind Kabasenche.

“I gave it all the guts I could have,” Radosevich said. “It just didn’t work out. But second place is still great.”

Radosevich, who placed sixth at last year’s state meet, found himself sharing the lead with Washougal’s Gabriel Dinnel early in a race that started relatively slow.

“My race usually isn’t to lead, but I knew I had to when we came through the mile at about five minutes,” Radosevich said. “I just kept pushing the pace.”

Second at the two-mile mark, Dinnel eventually finished third. He led a Washougal team that had hopes of a 2A team title but finished second, 14 points behind Sehome.

Still, second place was the highest in program history.

“It’s probably the most talented group I’ve ever had,” Washougal coach Terry Howard said. “We knew we had a shot at it years ago on this particular day. We just came up a little short. But it’s a great step forward for Washougal cross country.”

Ranked No. 1 by state coaches, Camas also had its eyes on a 4A title. The Papermakers placed third in a tight team race, seven points behind champion Tahoma and five points behind second-place Central Valley.

Sophomore Sam Geiger paced the Papermakers in 11^th with a personal-best of 15:42. Daniel Maton, last year’s state runner-up, was next-fastest in 24^th.

Though there was disappointment in missing the team title, Geiger wasn’t going to let any of his teammates hang their heads.

“Everyone on our team did great today,” he said. “We all had a great race and I’m just proud of them.”

Clark County’s smaller schools produced a pair of top-10 finishers.

David Carrion of Seton Catholic finished eighth in the 1A race. August Albers of Cedar Tree Classical Christian placed sixth in the 1B/2B race.

Mountain View’s Shun Yamaguchi was the fastest local finisher in the 3A race, placing 35^th.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

WIAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Sun Willows Golf Course

Pasco, 5,000 meters

CLASS 4A

Teams – 1, Tahoma 94; 2, Central Valley 96; 3, Camas 101.

Individual champ – Joe Waskom (Mount Si) 15:16.

Local results

BATTLE GROUND – 124, Kyle Ganoung 17:08.

CAMAS – 11, Sam Geiger 15:42; 24, Daniel Maton 15:59; 27, Jackson Lyne 16:01; 31, Spencer Twyman 16:06; 49, Luc Utheza 16:22; 100, Evan Jenkins 16:51; 147, Carson Frawley 17:36.

CLASS 3A

Teams – 1, Kamiakin 37; 2, North Central 74; 3, Arlington 97.

Individual champ – Johan Correa (Kennewick) 15:26.

Local results

FORT VANCOUVER – 68, Drew Weber 16:59.

MOUNTAIN VIEW – 35, Shun Yamaguchi 16:32.

PRAIRIE – 62, Luke Lund 16:52; 112, Landon Gunter 17:27; 132, Isaac Moulton 17:47.

CLASS 2A

Teams – 1, Sehome 84; 2, Washougal 98; 3, Liberty-Issaquah 150. Also – 5, Ridgefield 160.

Individual champ – Eliason Kabasenche (Pullman) 15:44.

Local results

COLUMBIA RIVER – 52, Aidan Rowley 17:13; 80, Daniel Barna 17:30.

HOCKINSON – 44, Joshua Saeman 17:08; 65, Trevan Bischoff 17:21; 91, Kai Conradie 17:39.

RIDGEFIELD – 2, Kyle Radosevich 15:48; 33, Logan Newman 16:58; 35, Ian Abrams 17:03; 71, Ethan McQuivey 17:23; 112, Mason Barry 17:57; 125, Micah Abrams 18:06; 126, Joey Blick 18:07.