Boys state cross country: Maton a step short in dramatic finish

PASCO – Daniel Maton hardly remembered anything about the final frantic dash to the finish line.

The Camas junior came up just short in the most dramatic finish of the WIAA State Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

Running shoulder-to-shoulder with Ryan Kline of Central Valley, Maton lunged.

But his legs couldn’t carry him the final few steps. He tumbled over the finish line, finishing second by a step.

“I just fell,” Maton said. “Everything went numb.”

Maton finished the 5,000 meter course at Sun Willows Golf Course in 15 minutes, 11 seconds.

But what he wouldn’t give to shave off two-tenths of a second, the margin of victory.

“All and all, everything happens for a reason,” Maton said. “Maybe this makes me even more motivated for next year.”

Maton, who finished eighth in state last year, stayed with a tight, 10-person lead pack for most of the race.

When the final mile arrived, it was “go” time. Maton and Kline pulled away from the pack.

“At three quarters of a mile I tried to push the pace,” Maton said. “But he was still there and I gave everything.”

Camas, which has just one senior, placed fourth in the 4A team competition.

Ridgefield’s Radosevich sixth in 2A

Ridgefield junior Kyle Radosevich started strong, then kept getting stronger.

The district champion was 18^th through one mile, then started passing opponents. By two miles, he was eighth.

Radosevich finished sixth in 15:59, the second straight race he has broken 16 minutes. The Spudders finished seventh in the team standings.

Washougal’s Gabriel Dinnel finished 14^th in 16:11.

Albers fourth in Class B

Clark County high school sports fans may not be familiar with Cedar Tree Classical Christian. For the Ridgefield school, which has about 80 high school students, cross country is its only WIAA state competition.

Saturday, August Albers grabbed the best state finish in the cross country program’s three years. The junior placed fourth in the Class 1B/2B race with a personal-best time of 16:35.

“Everyone is always like ‘who is Cedar Tree?’ Albers said. “We’re just a small private school in the middle of nowhere. But we have a good coach, good people and for such a small school we have a lot of talent.”

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

WIAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Sun Willows Golf Course

Pasco, 5,000 meters

CLASS 4A

Teams – 1, Lewis and Clark 86; 2, Central Valley 87; 3, Bellarmine Prep 128. Also – 4, Camas 133.

Top individuals – 1, Ryan Kline (Central Valley) 15:11.3; 2, Daniel Maton (Camas) 15:11.5; 3, AJ Chopra (Todd Beamer) 15:15; 4, Nate Pendleton (Eastlake) 15:16; 5, Jonas Price (Eisenhower) 15:20; 6, Wil Smith (Lewis and Clark) 15:20; 7, Dawson Besst (Tahoma) 15:22; 8, Riley Moore (Richland) 15:25; 9, Luke George (Issaquah) 15:27; 10, Joe Waskom 15:31.

Local results

CAMAS – 2, Daniel Maton 15:11; 25, David Connell 15:55; 45, Spencer Twyman 16:08; 51, Jackson Lyne 16:14; 57, LJ Floyd 16:16; 78, Samuel Geiger 16:29; 84, Luc Utheza 16:31.

HERITAGE – 58, Ryan Cibart 16:16.

SKYVIEW – 118, Bruce Erickson 16:52.

UNION – 131, Aaron Avery 17:03.

CLASS 3A

Teams – 1, Kamiakin 55; 2, Interlake 92; 3, North Central 97.

Top individuals – 1, James Mwaura (Lincoln) 14:48; 2, Sebastian Belkin (Bainbridge) 15:22; 3, Bradley Peloquin (Gig Harbor) 15:23; 4, Jonah Franco (Kamiakin) 15:24; 5, Ryan Child (Kamiakin) 15:28; 6, Markus Taylor (North Central) 15:30; 7, Isaac Mohn (O’Dea) 15:34; 8, Johan Correa (Kennewick) 15:38; 9, Dante Paszkeicz (Interlake) 15:45; 10, Mohamed Ahmed (North Central) 15:45.

Local results

MOUNTAIN VIEW – 95, Shun Yamaguchi 16:49; 150, Samuel Johnson 17:45.

PRAIRIE – 71, Luke Lund 16:33.

FORT VANCOUVER – 107, Drew Weber 16:59.

CLASS 2A

Teams – 1, Sehome 94; 2, Pullman 107; 3, Bellingham 135. Also – 7, Ridgefield 163; 10, Washougal 242.

Top individuals – 1, Cade Brown (Bellingham) 15:26; 2, Grant Van Valkenburg (Cedarcrest) 15:26; 3, Reed Smith (Sehome)15:52; 4, Joshua Rauvola (Archbishop Murphy) 15:58; 5, Tate Hutchins (Lynden) 15:59; 6, Kyle Radosevich (Ridgefield) 15:59; 7, Zach Koivisto (Steilacoon) 16:00; 8, Eliason Kabasenche 16:04; 9, Jaden Lofrese (Mountlake Terrace) 16:04; 10, Bas Holland (Cheney) 16:05.

Local results

RIDGEFIELD – 6, Kyle Radosevich 15:59; 39, Ciarnin McNeil 16:38; 42, Miles Bethel 16:40; 67, Logan Newman 17:02; 89, Ethan McQuivey 17:23; 92, Ian Abrams 17:24; 148, Tyler Lehnertz 18:16.

WASHOUGAL – 14, Gabriel Dinnel 16:11; 41, Troy Prince-Butterfield 16:40;, 83, Tanner Lees 17:18; 107, Jonathan Wells 17:30; 108, Koy Chaston 17:31; 109, Ian Palmer 17:31; 127, Warren Henderson 17:46.

HOCKINSON – 142, Tyler Peterson 17:59; 154, Kai Conradie 18:41 .

CLASS 1A

Teams – 1, Medical Lake 78; 2, Riverside 130; 3, Meridian 136. Also – 14, La Center 270.

Top individuals – 1, Kenneth Rooks (College Place) 15:18; 2, Ben Shaw (Riverside) 15:35; 3, Eric Steiger (Lynden Christian) 15:54; 4, Adam Briejer (Charles Wright) 16:00; 5, Tamire Proctor (Northwest) 16:00.

Local results

LA CENTER – 29, Calvin DuBois 16:49; 53, Isaac Brown 17:15; 95, Sean Murray 17:48; 112, Jackson Leavitt 17:58; 118, Mateo Macial-Curry 18:03; 144, Garett Shapovalov 18:51; 154, Tyler Jennings 19:51.

SETON CATHOLIC – 43, David Carrion 17:03; 126, Koen Ross 18:08.

STEVENSON – 73, Abiy LaCombe 17:29; 116, Julio Ramos 18:02.

CLASS B

Teams – 1, NW Christian 84; 2, Liberty Bell 121; 3, St. George’s 125.

Top individuals – 1, Austen Apperson 15:59; 2, Tyler Shea (NW Christian) 16:13; 3, Zachary Wright (Onalaska) 16:24; 4, August Albers (Cedar Tree Classical Christian) 16:32; 5, Jacoby Wieber (Tri-Cities Prep) 16:34.

Local results

CEDAR TREE CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN – 4, August Albers 16:32; 44, Joshua Bradshaw 18:00; 91, Ezekiel Cochran 18:40.