LACEY — It’s been 28 years since R.A. Long sent its last cross country team to the state championships. It was also the last time the program had an individual district champion, when Lisa Impola broke the finish line tape in 1981.

On Saturday, RAL sophomore Dani Eggleston won the girls race, and the Lumberjills earned a state berth after finishing second in the District 4 Class 2A Cross Country Championships at The Evergreen State College.

In the boys competition, Mark Morris brought home the team title. A team from each school will compete in the Class 2A State Cross Country Championships Saturday on the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The top four teams and 20 individuals in each race advanced to the state meet.

Washougal edged out RAL 93-97 for the girls crown, despite the Lumberjills placing three runners in the top-15. Eggleston finished in 20:51, sophomore Jessica Johanson placed third in 21:33, and junior Allison Schneider finished 13th in 22:31.

“Jessica had an outstanding race, and Allison is our only runner returning to state from last season,” RAL coach Nick Stumbo said. “I can’t say enough about how well they all ran. At the beginning of the season I knew we’d be tough, but this is really exciting when you consider how long of a drought we’ve had since our last team to state.”

Seniors Leah Ahrens (24:21) and Rachael Washington (24:37) placed 37th and 43rd, respectively, followed by Caity Wilson (69th, 27:28) and Angelique Harding (71st, 28:05).

Mark Morris placed six runners in the top-25 to outdistance W.F. West 56-70 and win the boys team title. R.A. Long placed fifth with 157, and Woodland ran incomplete.

Sophomores Andres Rodriguez (16:46) and David Klinginsmith (17:39) placed fourth and 10th, respectively for MM, with junior Chase Bussing placing 11th in 17:39. Freshmen Mavrick Knoles (17:48) and Blake Bussing (17:50) placed 15th and 16th, respectively, and junior Nate Starr finished 22nd in 18:18.

RAL’s Nathan Richards grabbed a state berth with a seventh place finish in 17:24. Also for the Lumberjacks were Ray Nugent (32nd, 18:40), Brian Jackson (35th, 18:41), Nolan Aberle (41st, 18:54) and Garrett Wittrock (42nd, 18:55).

MM had two runners in the girls race, and both qualified for state. Savina Rodriguez was eighth in 21:48, and Joanna Feeney placed 11th in 22:21.

Woodland’s Michelle Kooiman placed 58th in 25:23, and Emilee Bashaw was 61st in 25:37. In the boys race, Isaiah Arn placed 79th in 20:49, followed by Ben Andrews (86th, 21:32), Luke Donald (89th, 23:04) and Aaron DeBolt (90th, 23:11).

Todd Jackson of Elma won the boys race in 16:04.

Toledo boys first, Ilwaco girls third

Toledo placed all five of its runners in the top-20 in the boys race to claim the team crown, and the Ilwaco girls grabbed a state berth with a third place finish in the District 4 Class 1A Cross Country Championships at The Evergreen State College Saturday.

The top three teams and 15 individuals from the boys and girls races advance to the Class 1A State Championships on Saturday in Pasco.

Toledo edged La Center 48-54 to take the boys crown, with Onalaska in third with 64. Kalama finished fourth with 120, followed by Rainier, Wash. with 136, Montesano 154, Tenino 156, Ilwaco 187, Castle Rock 213 and Forks 284.

Joshua Rose led Toledo with a second place finish in 17:42, and Ronnie Neumann was fourth in 17:55. Mikhail Hopf placed 11th in 18:40, Willie Reynolds finished 16th in 18:56, and Joe Durham was 17th in 18:59.

“One of our goals was to get to the state meet, and winning the district meet is really cool,” Toledo coach Brian Layton said. “We also won the league meet last week, so it seems we’re peaking at the right time.”

Kalama’s Jeremy Schoenberg and Kody Shriver claimed top-10 finishes and will run at state. Schoenberg was eighth in 18:25, and Shriver placed ninth in 18:31. Also for the Chinooks were Jonathan Chadwick (23rd, 19:13), Bret Osterlund (34th, 19:43) and Nathan Gonzales (49th, 20:44).

Travis Patrick of Castle Rock qualified for the state championships with a 13th place finish in 18:45. Also for the Rockets were Loren Kennington (28th, 19:27), Mack Rubash (54th, 21:22), Kody McCarthy (59th, 21:51) and Kainen Crayne (66th, 22:38).

Ilwaco’s Owen Sutherland finished 20th in 19:07, followed by Brenden Greenfield (36th, 19:44), Evin LaPlatney (41st, 20:06), Corbin Sutherland (42nd, 20:22) and Ben Ahlin (53rd, 21:19).

Onalaska’s Frank Krause broke the tape in 17:31.

La Center cruised to victory in the girls race with 34 points, followed by Onalaska and Ilwaco with 88 points apiece. Montesano missed going to state with 102 points, Rainier, Wash. tallied 109, Kalama 159, Toledo 165 and Tenino 169. Castle Rock ran incomplete.

Cameo Ulbricht grabbed second place for Ilwaco in 20:55, and Cindy Pacheco was 10th in 22:02. Also going to state for the Fishermen are Leticia Cervantes (14th, 22:49), Raven Rogers (21st, 23:30) and Brittany King (53rd, 29:33).

Kalama freshman Kaitlyn Horn also qualified for state with a 12th place finish in 22:21. Also finishing for the Chinooks were Taylor Loree (19th, 23:23), Macy Bottorff (47th, 27:25), Kayla Palmer (49th, 27:47) and Maddie Harmon (55th, 29:45).

Megan Smith led Toledo with a 28th place finish in 24:18, followed by Jenny Martin (33rd, 24:37), Lydia Rose (35th, 24:46), Brianne Sorsby (42nd, 26:02) and Jessica Comstock (50th, 28:29).

Castle Rock twins Laura Patrick (25:02) and Amy Patrick (25:05) placed 38th and 39th, respectively, and Louvethan Woehle was 60th in 32:46.

La Center’s Meagan Governor won the race in 20:42.

Comets, Mules advance to state

Two runners apiece from Naselle and Wahkiakum qualified for the state championships after placing in the top-20 in the District 4 Class 2B/1B Cross Country Championships held at The Evergreen State College Saturday.

Northwest Christian won the boys team title with 55 points, followed by Mossyrock with 60, North Beach 92 and White Pass 95. Naselle tallied 198 points, and Wahkiakum ran incomplete.

The top four teams and 20 individuals in the boys race, and the top two teams and 10 individuals in the girls run advance to the Class 2B/1B State Championships on Saturday at Pasco.

Naselle’s Cramer Smith (17:59) and Nathan Reitz (18:05) qualified for state after finishing sixth and seventh, respectively in the boys race. Also finishing for the Comets were Drew Macy (29th, 20:17), Austin Smith (49th, 25:23), Beau Santjer (53rd, 28:44) and Alex Bighill (54th, 28:44).

Wahkiakum’s Bradlee Pugh (18:54) and Collan Riley (19:01) placed 15th and 17th, respectively, and also qualified for the state championships. Chris Hokkanen placed 22nd in 19:24, and Connar Riley was 47th in 24:03.

Justin Holden of Northwest Christian won the race in 16:46.

Naselle and Wahkiakum ran incomplete in the girls race. Tashajara Stenvall led Naselle in 12th place in 22:23, followed by Jodi Christie (15th, 22:40), Emily Green (17th, 23:13) and Alana Darcher (18th, 23:42).

Wahkiakum’s Jori McEntire placed 27th in 27:41.

Mikel Elliott of White Pass won the race in 19:23.