WASHINGTON STATE MEET

Sophia Rodriguez Wins Third Straight Title, Leads Mercer Island Girls To 3A Championship; Camas' Cohen Butler Wins 4A Boys Race With Massive Improvement

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Russell Moore Photos

Sophia Rodriguez won her third consecutive cross country title and the Mercer Island girls repeated as the Class 3A state champions at the Washington State Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

Completing an undefeated season in the state of Washington, Rodriguez covered the 5-kilometer in 17 minutes, 21.9 seconds on a sunny, windy day at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco, Wash. Rodriguez, who ran the all-time state championship best as a sophomore in 16:48.1, became the first girl to win three consecutive individual titles since Novie McCabe at the Class 1B/2B level in 2016-2018.

With Rodriguez’s win, Mercer Island defended its team title with 100 points, defeating Metro League rival Seattle Prep by 14 points. Rizah Despres (18:52.9, 11th) and Ella Zhang (19:05.4, 15th) joined Rodriguez on the podium.

Ballard’s Cassidy Armstrong, last fall’s Foot Locker West Regional champion, finished second to Rodriguez in 17:24.1.

The Mercer Island boys also defended their Class 3A title, defeating Shorewood 104-117. Bodie Thomas finished third in 15:18, Matthew Lawrence finished fourth in 15:21.5 to lead Mercer Island.

Central Kitsap’s Mana Voss battled Hermiston OR’s Leroy Lozano Mejia right to the line for the individual title, winning by a margin of 15:09.2 to 15:10.4.

Camas’ Cohen Butler ran the fastest boys time of the day in the Class 4A race, winning his first state title in 14:47.9, improving his time by 51 seconds from last year’s fifth-place finish. Olympia’s Quenton Lanese, a freshman, finished second in 15:05.5 and South Kitsap’s Isaac Benjamin finished third in 15:07.9.

The Mead boys, No. 5 in the DyeStat Northwest Regional rankings, won its 14th overall 4A team title and first since 2008, scoring 49 points behind five runners finishing on the podium stand, including two in the top 10 in Stejer Franklin (15:19.4, 6th) and Jovanny Lieb (15:32.5, 9th). 

The Issaquah girls won the program’s first team title since 2016 and fifth overall in program history, defeating Olympia 100-115. Emma Wurster was the highest finisher for the Eagles, finishing 19th in 18:58.9.

Olympia’s Sydney Kosa finished second overall in 18:19.7 for the Bears, falling 13 seconds shy of the individual title to Eastlake’s Aubrey Wilems in 18:06.4.

The Bainbridge boys won the program’s first cross country state title, defeating two-time defending champions Sehome 53-85 in the Class 2A race. The Spartans had three runners within three seconds of each other finish in the top 10 in Ryan Dodge (15:56.7, sixth), Ben Crandall (15:58.5, 7th) and Ignacio Llorens (15:59.5, eighth).

Anacortes’ Dylan Rowell defended his individual 2A title in 15:15, beating Ellensburg’s Mystic Hammond by nearly 20 seconds.

The No. 9-ranked Sehome girls, with all five scorers finishing in the top 15, scored 22 points, the second-lowest point title in state championship history across all classifications, to win its state-record 15th team title and fifth straight 2A title.

Kjirsten Ludeman and Sloane Clines finished second and third in 17:54.4 and 17:57.3, Lil Desler and Samantha Knipp finished fifth and sixth in 18:24.3 and 18:33.9, and Paige Ricks finished 15th in 19:27.3. 

Lynden’s Sloan Dickson won the individual crown in 17:48.6.

The Cedar Park Christian boys, led by individual winner Oliver Zimmerman in 15:23, defeated Meridian 50-90 for a third consecutive Class 1A title.

The Meridian girls won the program's first state title, scoring 107 points. South Whidbey's Reed Atwood took home the individual title in 18:51.7.

Freeman won the 2B boys title with 61 points and Pope John Paul II won the 1B title with 33 points. Waylon Stoneburg-Schafer of Cle Elum-Roslyn won the individual 2B title in 15:40.9 and Kevin Hu of Pope John II won the 1B individual title in 16:38.8.

Liberty Bell scored 94 points to claim the 1B/2B girls title. Manson's Grace Walsh cruised to a 27-second win in 18:22.1.

Team Champions - 

Class 4A - Mead boys 49 points, Issaquah girls 100 points 

Class 3A - Mercer Island boys 104 points, Mercer Island girls 100 points

Class 2A - Bainbridge boys 53 points, Sehome girls 22 points

Class 1A - Cedar Park Christian boys 50 points, Meridian girls 107 points

Class 1B - Pope John Paul II boys 33 points 

Class 2B - Freeman boys 61 points

Class 1B/2B - Liberty Bell girls 94 points