Isaiah Allen zips along at the league championship meet. (Shaloma Allen photos)
They stand alone on the mountain top.
Placing four runners in the top nine Thursday in Mount Vernon, the Coupeville High School boys’ cross country team ran away with a team title at the Northwest 2B/1B League Championships.
It’s the third league title in program history, following a shared title in 2022. Other than that, you have to go back to 1977 when the Wolf boys ruled the Cascade League.
It also pulls Coupeville male runners even with their female counterparts, who won league crowns in 1982, 2021, and 2022.
Not bad for a cross country program which was revived in 2018 after lying dormant since the early 1990’s.
For CHS coach Elizabeth Bitting, who has been the driving force behind the rebirth and growth of the harrier team, this latest accomplishment is something worth celebrating.
“What a season! I am so proud of these runners,” she said. “They have pushed through illnesses and injuries and are peaking when they need to be.
“Just about every runner who ran this course last season set a personal record at today’s race.”
Tearing up the 5,000-meter course, the Wolf boys, who were led by third-place finisher George Spear, finished with 46 points, holding off Mount Vernon Christian (46) and Evangel Classical (55) to claim the title.
Spear not only set a PR Thursday but ran the second-fastest time by a Wolf boy in the modern era.
He edged past Danny Conlisk, Carson Field, and Mitchell Hall, and trails only Tyler King, who won a state title in 2010 running as a Lone Wolf without a team.
Devon Wyman cruises for the finish line.
Coupeville’s girls, who got a third-place finish from Mikayla Wagner, also finished strongly Thursday, earning third with 57 points, trailing only MVC (26) and Friday Harbor (43).
Up next for the Wolves is the Westside Classic, set for Saturday, Nov. 1 at University Place. That meet is the qualifier for state, and CHS sends 12 runners.
Barring any changes between now and then, the lineup will be Wagner, Aleksia Jump, Ivy Rudat, Devon Wyman, and Allie Powers on the girls side of things.
The boys will be Spear, Cyrus Sparacio, Ezekiel Allen, Kenneth Jacobsen, Beckett Green, Ossian Merkel, and Isaiah Allen.
Thursday results:
GIRLS:
Mikayla Wagner (3rd) 21:55.3
Aleksia Jump (11th) 23:46.6
Ivy Rudat (12th) 23:47.1
Devon Wyman (18th) 24:33.4
Allie Powers (19th) 24:45.2
Ava Lucero (26th) 28:40.9
Aleksia Jump enjoys her nature run.
BOYS:
George Spear (3rd) 17:40.7
Cyrus Sparacio (4th) 17:52.9
Ezekiel Allen (8th) 18:23.0
Kenneth Jacobsen (9th) 18:26.8
Ossian Merkel (23rd) 19:43.8
Beckett Green (27th) 19:59.4
Johnathan Jacobsen (29th) 20:12.4
Isaiah Allen (31st) 20:16.3
Will Tierney (42nd) 21:33.3
Hunter Atteberry (44th) 21:54.0
Donovan Fox (54th) 26:30.3
Nolan Hunt (55th) 26:46.8
Zach Blitch (56th) 28:30.9
Zachary Saho (60th) 38:17.7
Two thumbs up for Cow Town runners.
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