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Skyview boys cross country team looks for big finish at state championship

State meet is Saturday in Pasco

By Micah Rice, Columbian Sports Editor
Published: November 4, 2014, 12:00am

Cross country runners are the first to admit it. They’re a little bit odd.

Running hundreds of miles together leaves inhibitions in the dust. There are crazy stories, unplanned detours and pranks.

The Skyview boys cross country team is no different.

Post-workout games of ultimate frisbee? Sure.

Running to a local greasy-spoon breakfast nook seven miles away? You bet. Never mind trying to run home.

On the best cross country teams, those free spirits embrace one binding tie. To win a big competition, literally the closest team wins.

Skyview has its sights on a top-three finish Saturday at the WIAA Cross Country State Championships in Pasco.

The top five runners on each team score points based on their finishing place. A 20-second gap between a team’s third and fourth runners might not be a big deal at a smaller meet. At state, it can make the difference in winning a trophy.

“In a big meet, every second is a body,” Skyview coach Chris Erdman said. “You might run 10 seconds off your best mark, but that might be 10 places.”

Skyview easily beat 32 other teams Oct. 10 at the Sandalie Golf Course Classic in Wilsonville, Ore.

Skyview then dominated the 4A district meet Oct. 23. Its top five runners all finished in the top eight and within 24 seconds of each other.

Chanse Gilbert placed second followed by Ethan Bauer and defending district champ Kaden Harbertson. Zeke Oien and Mason Scheidel placed seventh and eighth, respectively.

Competitive tension helps Skyview runners push each other. It’s natural for friendly rivalries to emerge during workouts.

“We try to compete with each other,” Scheidel said. “We’re always chasing Kaden. Each guy is always chasing the guy ahead of him.”

In his 18th year of coaching, Erdman hasn’t uncovered a breakthrough in training. The team spaghetti dinners are still the same.

“I boil it down to the personalities in this group,” Erdman said. “They’re competitive yet supportive at the same time. There’s no, ‘I want to beat you today,’ but you can tell that energy is there.”

“You have to rely on every single runner to have a good race,” Harbertson added. “I know it’s getting down to crunch time, but you can still have fun.”

Skyview also has fortune on its side. For the first time in several years, local 4A teams didn’t run a bi-district state-qualifying meet last weekend. That was due to an agreement between the local District 4 and Tacoma-area District 3 dissolving.

It turns out two of Skyview’s top runners got strep throat and another got pneumonia right after the district meet. Instead of running a high-stakes race last weekend, those runners were healing.

Erdman hopes everything will click Saturday at state.

“Not all of our top five have had their best race on the same day,” he said. “I just hope they run as best they can. Then however the team finishes, we’ll take that.”

WIAA Cross Country State Championships

When: Saturday, races every 30 minutes beginning 9:30 a.m., concluding with 4A boys at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Sun Willows Golf Course, Pasco

Local state meet storylines:

• Union senior Alexis Fuller is aiming for her fourth top-three finish in the 4A girls race.

• The Camas girls are looking for a 4A trophy after placing second last year. Senior Alissa Pudlitzke placed sixth in state last year and freshman Emma Jenkins finished second at districts.

• The Prairie girls are seeking a 3A trophy after winning the bi-district championship Saturday. The Falcons are led by bi-district champ Michaela Bruns and district champ Jamie Ferris.

• Columbia River senior Austin Blankenship is seeking a top-10 finish after placing second at the 3A bi-district meet Saturday.

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