Coupeville sophomore Noelle Western has qualified for state in back-to-back seasons. (Photo courtesy Elizabeth Bitting)
Start of a new dynasty?
The Coupeville High School cross country squad sent eight runners to the line Saturday at the 1B/2B state meet in Pasco, and every one of them is eligible to return next season.
The Wolf boys qualified as a complete team for the first time since the late ’70s, while sophomore Noelle Western made it two-for-two in her short, but productive, running career.
With no seniors among the state participants, Coupeville is primed for even more success in the future.
And while none of the current crop of Wolves joined alumni Natasha Bamberger and Tyler King in bringing home individual state crowns Saturday, Elizabeth Bitting’s runners held up well on the 5,000-meter course at the Sun Willows Golf Course.
The CHS boys finished 10th in the team standings, with their top five runners stretched just one minute and 11 seconds apart.
That’s the fourth-best performance by a boys’ team Saturday.
“These boys!! Amazing!!!,” Bitting said. “After 46 years of missing state to finish 10th!
“They ALL ran so hard and pushed themselves to their limits!” she added.
“The look on all their faces running down the homestretch, it was obvious they left it all on the course.”
This marks the fourth time the Wolf boys have finished in the top 10 as a team at state, and the first since they went 9th, 5th, and 5th between 1975-1977.
The Wolf boys, back at the big dance. (Photo courtesy Elizabeth Bitting)
Coupeville’s girls, who claimed 8th place as a team last year, also have an 8th in 1981 and a program-best 4th in 1982.
While the Wolf girls just missed on sending a complete team to state this time around, Western made her second trip to Pasco, joining Carson Field in being a repeat qualifier.
Both veterans bettered their performance from last season, even with Western fighting off a cold.
“It was a wet and slick course,” Bitting said. “But she pushed herself and finished strong.”
Pope John Paul II, led by state champ Ruby Henry, claimed the girls’ team title, holding off Garfield-Palouse 45-51.
Henry, just a freshman, nipped Leki Albright of Liberty Bell by three seconds to hit the tape first.
In the boys’ race, it was more of a blowout, with Liberty Bell junior Dexter Delaney finishing 41 seconds ahead of the field.
Valley Christian, a private school out of Spokane, held off Pope John Paul II for the team title, while Coupeville came within a fraction of finishing as high as 8th.
Covenant was one point ahead of Adna, which was two points in front of CHS once everything was totaled up.
Coupeville’s Northwest 2B/1B League rival, Mount Vernon Christian, finished 14th in the team standings, as the Wolves beat them at both tri-districts and state after the Hurricanes narrowly won the league title.
After being so strong in the ’70s and ’80s, the CHS cross country program was shut down in the ’90s and sat dormant for nearly two decades.
Individual runners such as Tyler King and Danny Conlisk trained and traveled with Oak Harbor or South Whidbey during the “lost years.”
But the Wolves didn’t fully reenter the harrier world until Athletic Director Willie Smith relaunched things in 2018.
Working alongside fellow coaches Natasha Bamberger, Luke Samford, and Paige Spangler, Bitting has been deeply involved since the rebirth.
Whether coaching at the middle or high school level, the running guru has been instrumental in helping the Wolves build back, step by step.
Team captain Landon Roberts (hoodie) and teammates will be back. (Sherry Bonacci photo)
Looking ahead to season seven of this new era, Bitting can return every athlete who ran in Pasco, and 15 of the 18 who were on the roster this season.
Erica McGrath is the lone senior, while two foreign exchange students ran with the boys’ team.
There are also a number of standout 8th graders ready to make the jump after working with CMS coach Amber Wyman.
Even as one season ends, Bitting is ready to go again.
“I hope this instills in them that their hard work truly does pay off,” she said. “From the very beginning of the season they stuck with the pack mentality and only pushed themselves harder!
“This truly has been an amazing experience and I thank my lucky stars that everything just lined up this season.
“They, both girls’ and boys’ team, were ready for the challenge, bought into what I was preaching, their times dropped and look how they finished! That says it all!”
State meet results:
GIRLS:
Noelle Western (46th) 23:28.30
BOYS:
Carson Field (44th) 18:23.40
Landon Roberts (63rd) 18:38.10
Ezekiel Allen (83rd) 19:08.40
George Spear (93rd) 19:24.90
Thomas Strelow (106th) 19:34.90
Kenneth Jacobsen (110th) 19:40.60
Axel Marshall (157th) 21:54.60
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