KELSO — A year ago, Sam Johnson was the only Mountain View boy running at the Class 4A state cross country meet.
This fall, he wants to have a lot of Thunder company at the state meet. If Wednesday’s Class 3A District 4 Championship Meet was any indication, there will be a solid chance for Mountain View to make that happen.
Johnson won the boys race at Kelso High School, covering the 2.95-mile course in 15 minutes, 47.8 seconds. He was followed by teammates Shun Yamaguchi and Daniel Grimshaw as Mountain View easily won the team championship with 26 points. Kelso was second with 52 points. Prairie (70 points) and Hudson’s Bay (119) also advance boys teams to the bi-district race.
Mountain View also had the girls champion in senior Savanna Craig, who finished six seconds ahead of Fort Vancouver’s Emily Phelps with a winning time of 17:19.89.
The top 28 runners in both races advance to the bi-district meet, which will take place at American Lake in Tacoma on Oct. 29. The top 35 runners in that meet will advance to the 3A state meet.
Johnson, a junior who finished 65th at the Class 4A state meet last season, took charge about a mile into Wednesday’s race. He said he knew his teammates would follow his lead. He is looking forward to sharing those big meets with teammates.
“It’s been a team effort, and that’s what cross country’s about,” Johnson said. “It’s not just one person, it’s the whole team. The way we’ve worked and the team chemistry we’ve built over a short period of time it’s just amazing.”
Yamaguchi led the group of Thunder runners following Johnson as Mountain View had six of the first 13 boys across the finish line.
A sophomore, Yamaguchi said the push from teammates such as Johnson helps him chase his potential.
“I am not very strong when I’m by myself. But when someone’s there with me, I just go with them. I don’t think, I just get rid of the pain,” Yamaguchi said
In the girls race, Craig was glad to get pushed by Fort’s Phelps. She knows the Class 3A races ahead will be as challenging as the Class 4A races in past seasons. Unchallenged during the 3A GSHL dual-meet season, Craig has used invitational meets to prepare for the postseason push.
On Wednesday, she heard the support for Phelps along the course and knew she was a close behind. Craig hit the track for the final 300 meters and was able to maintain her advantage.
“I’m really glad that I had the Fort girl there to run with me because it pushed me a lot,” Craig said, noting that she finished 40 seconds faster than her 18-minute target. “I ran way faster than what I thought I was going to run. I feel good about the race. It was a good strong race.”
Kelso won the girls team title with 56 points. Prairie (63 points), Mountain View (71) and Fort Vancouver (101) also advance girls teams to bi-district.
