It was quite a weekend for the Eastlake girls cross country team as it knocked a champion off its pedestal and claimed its first-ever cross country championship Saturday at Pasco’s Sun Willows Golf Course.

The Wolves defeated three-time, defending state champion Gig Harbor by one point, 96-97.

“It was awesome,” head coach Troy Anderson said. “We knew that going into the meet it was going to be close.”

The Wolves finished second behind the same Tide squad last year and third the year before.

Although Eastlake didn’t have anyone place higher than 20th, they had the tightest pack of female runners at the state meet. Just 28 seconds separated Eastlake’s first and fifth runners. Only the North Central boys, a group ranked No. 1 nationally, had a tighter pack of runners.

Junior Chelsea Orr had the highest finish for Eastlake, crossing the line in 20th place at 19 minutes, 13 seconds. Sophomore teammate Megan Batty was 22nd in 19:19, and senior Tasha Lingenbrink was 26th in 19:25. Sophomore Katelyn Steen finished in 38th (19:39) and Erin Blodnick was 39th (19:41).

“One of the things you love about cross country is that it’s probably the purest team sport out there,” Anderson said. “You’ve got to have your five runners perform well. There’s no subbing like there is in other team sports.”

Gig Harbor senior Alyssa Andrews finished with the fastest individual time in 18 minutes flat.

Anderson also was awarded the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association 4A Girls Coach of the Year at a coaches meeting the night before.

“It was a great honor,” he said.

Skyline boys finish fifth

The Skyline boys cross country team claimed fifth place at Saturday’s 4A state meet, earning 174 points. Mead won the event with 98, followed by Jackson (106), Ferris (110) and Redmond (172).

Senior Simon Sorensen took fifth overall in a time of 15:30. Sophomore Kyle Branch was 17th at 15:58. The Issaquah boys captured 11th place with 264 points. Junior Chris Brasino had the high finish for the Eagles, taking 39th in 16:20.

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