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closePeninsula boys second, girls seventh
Marques Hunter
of the Gateway
PASCO — They came. They ran. They overachieved.
Peninsula senior Chris Borg led the Seahawks boys cross country team to a second-place finish on Saturday at the Class 3A state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course, tying their school-best finish from 1978.
Peninsula scored 118 points behind runaway winner North Central, a four-time champion that placed three in the top 10 and scored 47 points.
Borg used his long strides throughout the 5,000-meter rolling course to place third individually in 15 minutes, 28 seconds — a lifetime best by more than 21 seconds.
“My coach said, ‘Be Chris Borg today,’ and that’s what I did,” he said.
It’s been 31 years since the Peninsula program last placed second, but head coach Joel Wingard said this is what he dreamed of when he had visions of rebuilding the program.
“They’ve really given a huge amount for three and four years to get here,” Wingard said. “They did everything we wanted them to do training wise.”
The Seahawks made a considerable leap in average time compared with last year. One through seven, the Seahawks’ average time was 16:24, 33 seconds faster than last year (16:57), when they finished 10th as a team.
The smaller time gap between Peninsula’s No. 2 and No. 5 runners allowed the Seahawks to compete with the best teams in the state. They upset higher-ranked teams like Bellevue (third, 142) and Seattle Prep (fourth, 145).
Peninsula sophomore Curtis King (33rd, 16:21.2), senior Joe Vaughn (46th, 16:46) and sophomore Nick Borg (50th, 16:50) closed the gap and each finished in the top 50.
Peninsula senior Keegan Hall (68th, 16:59) didn’t race in the West Central District meet but was selected to run at state.
Hall said getting the other runners to place higher was the biggest difference.
“Last year, there was a big gap between No. 2 and everyone else,” Hall said. “We kind of closed that gap. The hard work has paid off.”
It was an impressive finish for an experienced group of distance runners.
“It’s been great,” Borg said. “I haven’t been more proud of these guys.”
More than half the varsity team that competed at state will graduate, leaving a number of spots open next year.
North Central senior Ben Johnston won the individual championship in 15:15. The team placed first, fourth and sixth and added three more finishers in the top 30.
Girls land seventh
The Peninsula girls cross country team has worked to become one of the top 10 forces in the state.
Featuring just one senior, the Seahawks finished seventh with 210 points during the state championship meet at Sun Willows Golf Course, their best team finish since they placed fourth in 1978.
Peninsula jumped six spots from last year’s performance, led by sophomore Addi Johnson, who placed 13th in 19:05.
“Our team did awesome,” Johnson said. “We worked really hard and got seventh. Last year we got 13th, so seventh I’m really happy with.”
Johnson’s time was one second behind her performance at state last year as a freshman. As a team, she believes having the added experience helped them to a top 10 finish.
“We knew what it was all about,” Johnson said. “I think with the new freshmen and everyone, we’re just going to get better from here.”
Everyone except senior Hannah George (71st, 20:45) will return. George said it was impressive to watch all the girls step up.
“I definitely thought we’d be able to do that well,” George said. “I’m really proud of how far we’ve come as a team.”
Shadle Park of Spokane won the 3A team championship with 59 points, placing three in the top 10 (fourth, fifth and ninth).
Peninsula junior Kristina Cordy said she was disappointed with her race after she finished more than a minute behind her sophomore pace at state in 20:22 (49th).
“I don’t really know what happened,” Cordy said. “Maybe I’ll be able to get into my sophomore speed next year.”
Wingard believes next year’s team has the potential to place even higher in the biggest meet of the year.
“The next goal is what they do in the offseason, so they come in and take it to the next level,” he said.