The Enumclaw High girls team, along with several other individual runners from the area, advanced to the Class 3A state cross country meet during Saturday’s Westside Classic at American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood
Enumclaw, led by Carissa Gwerder, Emily Eilertson and Chandler Weiman, finished seventh with 164 points – six points behind sixth-place Capital.
North Kitsap won the girls title with 93 points, while Bonney Lake was 10th with 242 and Sumner finished 11th with 259.
The top eight teams and top 40 individuals move on to Saturday’s state championships at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
Saturday morning, the American Lake course was hit with pouring rain, making it hard for runners racing downhill in some areas.
In the girls 3A race, Bonney Lake’s Veronica Stinnett finished fourth with a time of 18 minutes, 38.9 second on the 3.1-mile course. In 2008, Stinnett finished 14th at district.
“I think I ran the second mile too fast,” she said after the race. “The mud didn’t bother me at all. You just have to watch your footing.”
Sumner’s Ashlee Sincraugh took 11th in 19:24.4, while teammate Stefani Castile was 34th at 20:21.2. Sincraugh finished 13th last season.
White River’s Lauryn Wate finished 32nd with a time of 20:20.5.
For Enumclaw, the top three runners finished within seconds of each other. Gwerder was 26th at 20:11.5, Eilertson took 29th at 20:17.2 and Weiman was 30th at 20:19.1.
Other area runners competing in the race were Enumclaw’s Julia Harris, 46th, 20:58.6; Chelsea Weiman, 51st, 21:08.1; Lauren Cary, 53rd, 21:12.9; and Peyton Vick, 57th, 21:16. From Bonney Lake were Marie Wilson, 58th, 21:22.3, Chloe Beal, 62nd, 21:24; Hope Dickson, 64th, 21:28.5; Emily Campbell, 81st, 22:06; Karlie Pyl, 82nd, 22:08.5; and Sierra Espinal, 120th, 24:56. From Sumner were Gabrielle Phelps, 48th, 21:04.0; Megan McDaniels, 99th, 22.48.3; Leah Englehardt, 103rd, 22:58; Kendra Jansson, 111th, 23:53; and Jackie Tomlin, 118th, 24:53.1. Also representing White River was Kelley Coyle, 69th, 21:37.6.