Boys State Cross Country: Guermali, Griffith win titles

PASCO – One ran with tactics and toughness on his mind.

The other was fueled by redemption.

They ran different races, but both Yacine Guermali and Silas Griffith ended up at the same prize – a state championship.

Guermali won the 4A race with the fastest time by any runner across all classifications at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Pasco.

The Camas senior ran a tactically smart race, having enough fuel for a blazing final half mile that saw him leave three other challengers behind.

Guermali covered the 5,000 meter course at Sun Willows Golf Course in 15 minutes, 12 seconds. It was the fastest winning time in any of the five boys races by 10 seconds.

Afterwards, Guermali was gassed.

“It was one of the hardest finishes to go through,” he said. “It was one of those special finishes where you don’t have any energy, but you just have to push through it because it’s state.”

Guermali entered Saturday having won his past four races, all either postseason races or large invitationals.

He used that experience to best Matthew Watkins of Jackson, who had beaten Guernali at the prestigious Nike XC Nationals in September. Watkins finished nine seconds behind Guermali on Saturday.

“I had to work on my tactics today and kind of be ready for anything,” Guermali said. “That’s what (invitationals) do for you. Each time you learn something new.”

Griffith also drew inspiration from an earlier race. But his fuel was frustration.

The Ridgefield senior took a wrong turn at the district meet last weekend, causing him to lose a large lead and finish second.

“This was more of a redemption race,” he said. “I could have done better (at districts) and I didn’t feel good about it. I raced with a little bit of revenge. That kept me going.”

Josh Rauvola of Archbishop Murphy took the lead early. But Griffith needed just one mile to overtake him.

From there, the race was his. Griffith gradually pulled away and won by eight seconds, finishing in 15:47.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

WIAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Sun Willows Golf Course, Pasco, 5,000 meters

CLASS 4A

Teams – 1, Bellarmine Prep 70; 2, Central Valley 105; 3, Eisenhower 106. Also – 5, Camas 156, 11, Skyview 306.

Top individuals – 1, Yacine Guermali (Camas) 15:12; 2, Matthew Watkins (Jackson) 15:19; 3, Joe Waskom (Mount Si) 15:23; 4, Amir Ado (Joel Ferris) 15:30; 5, Alfonso Cuevas (Eisenhower) 15:39; 6, Dawson Besst (Tahoma) 15:41; 7, Nate Pendleton (Eastlake) 15:42; 8, Daniel Maton (Camas) 15:43; 9, Cullen McEachern (Kamiak) 15:43; 10, Ronan Price (Eisenhower) 15:44.

Local results

CAMAS – 1, Yacine Guermali 15:12; 8, Daniel Maton 15:43; 66, Jackson Lyne 16:44; 74, David Connell 16:47; 89, Nicholas Carter 16:56; 90, Nick Duffy 16:56; 97, Cade Greseth 17:01.

HERITAGE – 81, Ryan Cibart 16:50.

SKYVIEW – 16, Chanse Gilbert 15:56; 39, Zeke Oien 16:28; 112, Sean Flynn 17:11; 138, Parker Bennion 17:37; 148, Bruce Erickson 17:49; 156, Alex Miller 18:06.

UNION –73, Jarad McKinney 16:47; 92, Miguel De La Melena 16:58.

CLASS 3A

Teams – 1, North Central 61; 2, Interlake 139; 3, Kamiakin 153. Also – 15, Mountain View 375.

Top individuals – 1, James Mwaura (Lincoln) 15:32; 2, Hayden Dressel (Mount Spokane) 15:43; 3, Jacob Christner (North Central) 15:46; 4, Jonah Franco (Kamiakin) 15:48; 5, Matthew Park (Edmonds-Woodway) 15:50; 6, Bradley Peloquin (Gig Harbor) 15:57; 7, Hank Knight (North Central) 15:58; 8, James Konugres (Ballard) 16:00; 9, Aaron Levens (Snohomish) 16:03; 10, Johan Correa (Kennewick) 16:03.

Local results

HUDSON’S BAY – 90, Ethan Mayers 17:09.

MOUNTAIN VIEW – 35, Samuel Johnson 16:31; 102, Shun Yamaguchi 17:19; 135, Thomas Girard 17:48; 140, Daniel Grimshaw 17:54; 147, Ryan Hemphill 18:04; 163, Fred Grimshaw 18:54; 164, Connor Johnson 18:59.

CLASS 2A

Teams – 1, Sehome 97; 2, Cedarcrest 135; 3, Liberty-Issaquah 148. Also – 5, Ridgefield 170; 8, Washougal 189.

Top individuals – 1, Silas Griffith (Ridgefield) 15:47; 2, Josh Rauvola (Archbishop Murphy) 15:55; 3, James Parker (Anacortes) 15:59; 4, Ethan Green (Ephrata) 16:02; 5, Grant Van Valkenburg (Cedarcrest) 16:07; 6, Nate Jensvold (Ellensburg) 16:07; 7, Jacob Nicholson (West Valley-Spokane) 16:08; 8, Brigham Cardon (Selah) 16:15; 9, Ian Fay (Cedarcrest) 16:16; 10, Cody Skay (West Valley-Spokane) 16:22.

Local results

COLUMBIA RIVER – 40, Keegan Hanes 16:59; 81, Ben Laughlin 17:32; 93, Christopher Arnold 17:40.

HOCKINSON – 34, Kyle Peterson 16:49.

RIDGEFIELD – 1, Silas Griffith 15:47; 12, Kyle Radosevich 16:24; 54, Miles Bethel 17:11; 91, Brandon Lehto 17:39; 97, Ciarnin McNeil 17:43; 104, Ian Abrams 17:50; 141, Javier Tavera 18:31.

WASHOUGAL – 13, Aiden Pullen 16:27; 19, Gabriel Dinnel 16:30; 55, Troy Prince-Butterfield 17:13; 95, Tanner Lees 17:42; 99, Jackson Keyser 17:45; 123, Tanner Coltrane 18:08; 153, Koy Chaston 19:22.

CLASS 1A

Teams – 1, Deer Park 83; 2, Medical Lake 95; 3, Bush 121. Also – 15, La Center 368.

Top individuals – 1, Tibebu Proctor (Northwest) 15:22; 2, Ben Shaw (Riverside) 15:50; 3, Mereck Palazzo (Chelan) 15:55; 4, Kenneth Rooks (College Place) 15:59; 5, Cody Bollum (Deer Park) 16:14; 6, Marson Williams (Medical Lake) 16:20; 7, Brooks DeWaard (Lynden Christian) 16:24; 8, Cody Westerman (Deer Park) 16:26; 9, Kenny Barnes (Meridian) 16:29; 10, Tom Fahlman (Bush) 16:30.

Local results

LA CENTER – 91, Sean Murray 18:03; 97, Calvin DuBois 18:08; 98, Jared Cox 18:09; 115, Nate Beed 18:29; 121, Saige Keep 18:37; 146, Garett Shapovalov 19:26; 148, Jacob Denley 19:32.

SETON CATHOLIC – 76, David Carrion 17:56.

STEVENSON – 123, Julio Ramos-Vazquez 18:38.

CLASS B

Teams – 1, Northwest Christian-Lacey 64. Also – 10, Cedar Tree Classical Christian 251.

Top individual – Luke Schilter (Northwest Christian-Lacey) 15:56.

Local results

CEDAR TREE CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN – 11, August Albers 16:59; 35, Joshua Bradshaw 17:54; 102, Ezekiel Cochran 19:10; 105, Kai Johnson 19:13; 109, Nathan Johnson 19:22; 139, Elijah Loudenback 20:28; 140, AJ Trantham 20:28.