Union’s Bradley Harris, Skyview’s Daphne Evenson stride to 4A cross country district titles

BATTLE GROUND — Both are seniors who have run some of the area’s fastest times this cross country season.

Both didn’t want to leave Lewisville Park on Wednesday without checking off a major goal – District champion.

Union’s Bradley Harris and Skyview’s Daphne Evenson took strides toward capping their high school careers in stellar fashion. Each held off a tough pack of challengers to win at the Class 4A District 4 Cross Country Championships.

Harris outlasted defending district champ Cohen Butler of Camas. His time of 15 minutes, 50 seconds gave him a victory by 10 seconds and was his fifth 5,000-meter time under 16 minutes this season.

After finishing second at last year’s district championships, Harris said he’d been looking forward to Wednesday’s race for a year.

“I’m a competitor,” Harris said. “That’s my drive. I was like, it’s Round 2. It’s time to go and I’m here to compete.”

Harris and Butler weren’t the only talented runners in a field that included five of last year’s top six finishers.

Battle Ground sophomore Lord King Nana-Badu-Weah and Butler pushed the pace in the first mile. Harris laid in wait, but knew he couldn’t spend long in third place.

“If I didn’t go I was done,” Harris said. “Mentally I would have been like ‘I can’t catch them. I have to move now.’”

Harris surged ahead during the second mile and held a slight lead heading up the race’s lone hill.

“When I got to the top I could hear them behind me with their cleats,” Harris said. “I’ve got to go. So I picked up my stride and cooked the downhills.”

Nana-Badu-Weah finished in third place, one second behind Butler. That highlighted a strong showing for Battle Ground as the Tigers placed all five scoring runners in the top 10.

Trae Copper finished fourth, Devontae Kephart seventh, Vance Copper eighth and Soren Matson 10th as Battle Ground’s 32 points bested second-place Camas (49) and Union (55).

Evenson also made her move during the second mile, opening up a 10-second gap on Union junior Ella Koch.

“I knew coming into the race that I don’t have the strongest kick in the field,” Evenson said. “But I know that I can hurt as much or more than anyone else. So I knew I had to blast those first two miles. There were still girls with me after that first mile, so I had to turn it up and get some space before that final kick.”

Evenson crossed the finish line in 18:24. That put her 24 seconds ahead of Koch for another solid result in a season where she has consistently been under 18:30.

Evenson has committed to run at Washington State. Next, she will head to the bi-district Westside Classic on Nov. 2 before finishing her prep career at the state meet, where she placed 15th last season.

But after finishing third at last season’s district meet, Evenson didn’t want to leave her last high school cross country race in Clark County without a district title.

“This was a huge goal,” Evenson said. “I knew going into it that this would be really challenging. And it was.”

Eliisa Marshall finished third to lead Camas to the girls team title. Elizabeth Nava placed sixth, Eva McGeachy seventh, Kate Westfall 10th and Olivia Jones 12th as the Papermakers tallied 37 points, eight ahead of Union.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

CLASS 4A DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Lewisville Park, 5,000 meters

Team scores – Battle Ground 32, Camas 49, Union 55, Skyview 92.

Individual winner – Bradley Harris (Union) 15:50.

BATTLE GROUND – 3, Lord King Nana-Badu-Weah 16:01; 4, Trae Copper 16:30; 7, Devontae Kephart 16:46; 8, Vance Copper 16:52; 10, Soren Matson 17:03.

CAMAS – 2, Cohen Butler 16:00; 5, Andrew Helt 16:32; 13, Peyten Jones 17:05; 14, Keane Cooper 17:14; 15, Tanner Werry 17:26.

SKYVIEW – 11, Huckleberry Olson 17:04; 12, Tanner Carlsen 17:05; 21, Bryton Williams 17:47; 23, Liam Purcell 18:02; 25, Evan Velzy 18:52.

UNION – 1, Bradley Harris 15:50; 6, Sabin Kotsovos 16:45; 9, Marco Solari 16:56; 19, Enzo Solari 17:43; 20, Jackson Fortin 17:47.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

CLASS 4A DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Lewisville Park, 5,000 meters

Team scores – Camas 37, Union 45, Skyview 67, Battle Ground 76.

Individual champion – Daphne Evenson (Skyview) 18:24.

BATTLE GROUND – 5, Sophia Rogers 19:41; 14, Sierra Klein 21:00; 17, Brooke Ebinger 21:26; 19, Darbi Copper 21:37; 21, Brooke Stewart 21:48.

CAMAS – 3, Eliisa Marshall 19:33; 6, Elizabeth Nava 20:07; 7, Eva McGeachy 20:08; 9, Kate Westfall 20:39; 12, Olivia Jones 20:52.

SKYVIEW – 1, Daphne Evenson 18:24; 10, Evelyn Reed 20:45; 11, Charlie Garrett 20:47; 22, Molly Malone 21:54; 23, Annie Sheppert 22:06.

UNION – 2, Ella Koch 18:48; 4, Sara Thompson 19:33; 8, Kayla Gorchels 20:11; 13, Sarah Oldroyd 20:55; 18, Emily Jasper 21:28.