Plenty of experience departed from the latest senior class in Treyton Marty, Hunter Brackett and Gunnar Morgan. Still, with several teams returning a handful of runners and District 4 across the board getting one less allocation, getting to Pasco will be more challenging.
So who could represent SW Washington at Sun Willows Golf Course in November?
Here are five storylines to keep an eye on this fall.
Who claims the No. 1 boys spot in C2BL?
Gone is three-time league champ and two-time Class 2B state medalist Treyton Marty plus Hunter Brackett, the third place finisher at districts. There’s a heavy dosage of runners back that makes the C2BL as wide open as it gets.
Morton-White Pass boasts a trio of seniors, paced by Vanson Armstrong. Toledo’s Conner Hill showcased his talent as a freshman and Rainier senior Zach Hamilton returns after dealing with the injury bug.
Adna qualified for state as a team last fall and all five that placed top-15 at districts are back.
Centralia returns all five scoring runners off EvCo title
Bolstered by depth at the top in Elyse O’Dell, Eva Stout and Esther Hopkins, the Tigers won their first league title in 13 years. That trio that garnered first team all-league honors plus juniors Anna Jones and Alyssa Gilbert are back for Coach Ryan Stockdale’s team.
O’Dell qualified for state for the second time, but Centralia placed eighth at districts behind Tumwater. The GSHL dominated the district meet and of the top-six teams, only a combined 15 seniors graduated.
Can Broome close the gap with Haggard?
A rivalry that has two more years is Tumwater’s Alexandra Broome attempting to dim the margin between herself and Aberdeen’s Ailyn Haggard. Broome, a junior, finished second to Haggard in two league meets and the Evergreen Conference Championships.
At the league meet, the distance between the two was 33 seconds, the closest all last fall. Broome enters the year already with one race under 20 minutes in her pocket. She placed 40th at state last season.
Tenino seeks another state meet appearance
The Beavers edged league rival Rochester by six points last year to nab the fourth and final team spot for the Class 1A state meet. Of the scoring five from last year, two graduated, but senior Carter Mounts leads the pack of returners.
Mounts broke 18 minutes in his final three races and finished 91st at state. Junior Josiah Marzolf plus seniors Justin Schlesner and Sevrin Mickelson were all separated by 25 seconds at districts.
Wedam vies for fourth trip to Pasco
Joan Wedam has finished inside the top-20 over the last three District 4 meets, including a title as a freshman. The Mossyrock senior will attempt to reach the state meet for the fourth and final time in her prep career.
She finished 63rd last fall in 22:48.60. She has run sub-23 minutes in every state meet. Wedam is also aiming for her fourth top-10 finish in the C2BL Championships.
