Wolf harriers build new state meet legacy

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Wolf harriers build new state meet legacy

October 26, 2026 by David Svien

Kenneth Jacobsen flies across the prairie. (Julie Wheat photo)

The goal is Pasco.

That’s where the state cross country meet is held each year, and it’s a target Coupeville High School runners have hit more often than not.

Since the school-wide harrier program was relaunched in 2018, after being shut down for 20+ years, the Wolves have reached the big dance in six of eight seasons.

Toss out 2020, when the pandemic erased state for everyone, and it’s actually six of seven, with the only other season-ending meet missing the red and black being 2018.

That includes five trips for an entire team, with the Wolf boys qualifying for state as a group in 2023, 2024, and 2025, while the girls advanced as a unit in 2022 and 2025.

Overall, 26 Coupeville runners — 13 girls and 13 boys — have competed at state in this new era, with Carson Field, Kenneth Jacobsen, George Spear, and Ezekiel Allen reaching the big race three times.

Jacobsen, a senior this year, can make it four-for-four if things break correctly this weekend.

Coupeville will be back at it this Saturday, running on Halloween morning at the Westside Classic district meet at University Place, with Elizabeth Bitting’s squad trying to add to its rapidly-building legacy.

The following breakdown covers the seasons of CHS having its own full program during the rebirth years of 2018-2026.

That means it doesn’t include, say, Danny Conlisk, who made it to state for Coupeville in 2017 while training and traveling with South Whidbey.

Or Tyler King, who won an individual state title in 2010 while doing the same with Oak Harbor.

And certainly not the earlier decades when CHS had its own full program before being shut down in the ’90s.

That time frame includes the boys finishing fifth as a team in 1976 and 1977, while the girls earned a program-best 4th in 1982, before Natasha Bamberger cruised to a state title in 1985.