Blackhawk boys win District 7 CC title

To win as a team in cross country, it’s all about the spread. That time gap between your top runner and the No. 5 placer, since in cross country only the top five out of seven on a team score, can be important.

The higher your first runner places, and the closer the No. 5 is, the better your chances at winning.

For the Cheney boys at the District 7 championships Saturday afternoon in Clarkston, that time spread was 35 seconds. Coupled with Blackhawks junior Drake Johnson’s third-place finish, it meant the Cheney boys were coming home with their first ever District 7 championship trophy, edging Pullman 42-46.

For the Cheney girls, that spread was just a hair under 39 seconds, and led by Hannah Spakousky’s fifth-place finish, the Blackhawks also move on to this Saturday’s regional round in Ellensburg against teams from the Central Washington Athletic Conference with a second place finish behind Pullman, 36-51.

Johnson finished with a time of 16 minutes, 20.18 seconds on the 5,000-meter course at Clarkston High School; just over 19 seconds behind district champion Tim Pendry from Pullman. Johnson was followed by Matt Christianson in fifth at 16:25.77, Kaleb Lerch eighth in 16:43.77, Jack Peabody ninth in 16:45.10 and Mason VanStone 17th in 16:55.51.

Luke Huguenin was 28th in 18:03.01 and Tucker Cunningham was 32nd in 18:48.39. All seven Cheney boys’ runners set new season best marks at Clarkston.

Spakousky finished with a time of 19:45.53, over 1:24 back of East Valley’s Brittany Aquino in first place. Not only did the Blackhawk girls do well with their 1 – 5 spread, they did well in grouping as Cheney finished 10 – 13 with their scoring runners, led by Lexi Brooks (20:55.43), Brette Draper (20:56.67), Abby Hammermeister (21:06.54) and Alecia Brooks (21:24.11).

Jolene Whiteley and Sara Nanny were not far behind in 15th and 16th, finishing with times of 21:48.60 and 21:53.82 respectively. All seven Cheney girls also set new season best marks last Saturday.

The challenge gets a bit more difficult at Ellensburg, especially for the girls. Cross country coach Derek Slaughter said District 7 champion Pullman is looking very strong, particularly as the No. 5 runner, sophomore Haddie Fisch, has been closing their 1 – 5 gap.

In winning districts the Greyhounds placed three runners in the top four, and four in the top six. Pullman is ranked fifth in the state in 2A in the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association’s Oct. 18 poll, however CWAC schools Ephrata is third, Selah is sixth and the host Bulldogs are 10th.

“Five teams for four slots (to state),” Slaughter said. “The girls have to show up and if they show up, they should go through.”

The Cheney boys will also find themselves in a dogfight, but with a slightly better chance to advance. Selah and Ellensburg are the strongest teams out of the CWAC, ranked sixth and ninth statewide respectively, but the best indicator for the Blackhawks chances are what they didn’t have at districts — a healthy VanStone.

Slaughter said the senior was battling an illness that kept him from running near his usual spot, which is right with Lerch and Peabody. Slaughter expects VanStone to battle as a senior and bring his previous state experience with him, as well as being healthy.

“If Mason (VanStone) had been feeling well, our gap (at districts) would’ve been 25 seconds,” Slaughter said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].