PASCO — The red-rimmed sunglasses each girl wore suited the Camas runners perfectly.
After the WIAA State Cross Country Championships, the sun wasn’t the only bright object in their sights.
Camas had a gleaming first-place trophy.
With three runners in the top 11, the Camas girls ran like rock stars. The Papermakers breezed to the 4A girls team title with 64 points, 27 better than second-place Issaquah.
It’s the third girls team championship for Camas in the past four years.
“It was our goal to run for each other,” senior Alissa Pudlitzke said. “It comes down to who wants it more, and we really wanted it. I know we really pushed ourselves for each other.”
Also bright for Camas is the future. Freshman Emma Jenkins placed fourth overall, covering the 5,000 meter course at Sun Willows Golf Course in 17 minutes, 55 seconds.
That was four seconds behind Union senior and district champion Alexis Fuller, who finished third for the third consecutive year.
Pudlitzke placed fifth, two seconds behind Jenkins. Emily Wilson was 11th, Maddie Woodson was 35th and Kaylee was 36th to round out the Camas scorers.
Camas coach Laurie Porter credited her team’s tight-knit nature for their success. She also said her team caught a break by not having to race a bi-district meet last weekend due to a fallout between Districts 3 and 4.
“We wanted to drop the mileage but keep the intensity really high,” Porter said. “We were fortunate because we could do a really hard workout 10 days before.”
Just as in the district meet Oct. 24, Fuller, Jenkins and Pudlitzke ran in a tight pack. Nobody challenged individual winner Lindsay Bradley of Richland, who won by 36 seconds in 17:13.
“It helped pacing-wise to have that familiarity with them,” Fuller said. “But it’s weird to be at state and have two girls from my district right with me. It shows how strong our district is.”
Fuller, who this week committed to run at Boise State, had the best kick of that group and pulled away down the stretch.
The familiar faces around her helped calm any freshman jitters for Jenkins.
“I really like how Alexis and Alissa pushed me to be the best that I can,” Jenkins said. “There are a lot more people here than I pictured there being. It was really fun.”
Camas had an individual winner the past two years in Alexa Efraimson, a senior who turned professional over the summer. Efraimson celebrated with the team Saturday in Pasco.
“I’m so proud of them,” Efraimson said. “This program will be great for years to come.”
Finishing 22nd was Mountain View sophomore Savanna Craig, the lone local 4A state qualifier not on Camas or Union.
In the 3A girls race, Jamie Ferris of Prairie was the fastest local finisher in 23rd place.
In the 2A girls race, Courtney Owens of Washougal was the fastest local finisher in 23rd.
Katie Whitten of La Center finished 28th in the 1A girls race.
