Arlington Eagles secure state berths after second-place district finishes

Cross country season in the Seattle area reaches its peak when district champions qualify for the state meet, a milestone that determines which teams advance to the final week of competition.

The Arlington Eagles achieved that goal on Saturday when both their girls and boys teams placed second at the District 1/2 4A Championships held at Lakewood High School.

The girls team scored 106 points to finish behind Issaquah, which recorded 94 points. This result secured a spot for the Eagles in the state field, a target coach Jon Murray had identified as the primary objective for the race.

Senior Anabelle Klein anchored the girls team with a ninth-place finish of 18:15.8. This time marked a reclamation of the school record, a title she had lost to freshman Ellie Oakes earlier in the year.

Oakes had set a new record of 18:17.1 at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational on October 10. The close competition between the two runners created a dynamic that Klein described as a series of back-and-forth efforts throughout the season.

Klein executed a specific race plan to stay with the front pack as long as possible. She fell behind in the second mile but recovered in the final stretch to finish two seconds ahead of Redmond junior Lenorah McGarty.

Murray credited Klein for her mental toughness, noting that she often pushes through physical discomfort to finish races. He stated that her confidence and humility set a standard for the rest of the squad, which includes three freshmen in the top seven runners.

The boys team mirrored the girls' success by finishing second with 72 points. Skyline won the team title with 53 points, while Arlington secured the second qualifier spot for the state meet.

Senior Joshua Nguyen led the boys with an 11th-place finish of 15:53.0. He finished fourth in the earlier mile but had to accelerate in the final miles to support his teammates and accumulate the necessary team points.

Nguyen noted that he saw several top runners fading near the two-mile mark. He said he had to increase his pace to compensate for the drop in performance among his teammates, a strategy that helped the team lock in the second-place finish.

The Eagles will return to the state meet next week in Pasco, following a season last year where they missed the cut by a single point. That previous miss ended an 11-year streak of state qualifications.

Arlington also recorded victories in the adapted events. Senior Ramon Little won the District Ambulatory two-mile race with a time of 11:44.8, and senior Derek Salmon won the Boys Unified race in 11:48.8. Freshman Kaelyn Roehl placed third in the Girls Unified event with a time of 17:02.2.