At the beginning of the season, the mantra of the R.A. Long cross country team was “Be the One.”

“The theme was to be the first team to get R.A. Long back to the state meet,” RAL coach Nick Stumbo said. “It’s exciting because the girls achieved the goal, but the boys came up a little short.”

The Lumberjills took that dramatic step after finishing second in last week’s Southwest 2A District cross country meet at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The runner-up effort qualified the team for its first state appearance in 28 years on Saturday at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

More than 1,600 runners representing 244 schools will compete. Races begin with the wheelchair division at 9:30 a.m., and continue through the Class 4A boys’ division at 2:30 p.m.

In addition, the district champion Mark Morris boys will be competing for a team title in Class 2A, as will the Ilwaco girls and Toledo boys in Class 1A. Individual runners from Kelso, Castle Rock, Kalama, Wahkiakum and Naselle will also compete.

“It’s hard to know how we’ll stack up at state,” Stumbo said. “We know the teams from our district, and we want to be the top-placing team from our district at state.”

Dani Eggleston was also RAL’s first individual district champ in 28 years. The talented sophomore has placed first or second in her last five races at 5,000 meters. Sophomore Jessica Johanson finished third at district and junior Allison Schneider was 13th.

“Dani has run very well all season,” Stumbo said. “Jessica has shown the most improvement. Something clicked for her during a meet in Seaside at the end of September, and she’s been running a lot faster.”

Schneider is returning to state after finishing 124th last year.

“Allison is our leader,” Stumbo said. “We rely on her to keep the others in check.”

Rounding out RAL’s state roster are Leah Ahrens, Rachael Washington, Caity Wilson and Angelique Harding.

“We hope this will be a really positive experience and we can build on it for the future,” Stumbo said. “It excites me to think an eighth-grade girl will see this and will want to come out and run with the team next year.”

Mark Morris runners Joanna Feeney and Savina Rodriguez are also returning to state. Feeney placed 39th in last year’s finals and Rodriguez was 71st.

MM placed six runners in the top 25 of the boys’ race at district to easily outdistance W.F. West 56-70 to win the team title.

Chase Bussing finished 27th and Nate Starr 30th at state last year as the duo led the team to a 10th-place finish. Andres Rodriguez and David Klinginsmith finished fourth and 10th, respectively, at last weekend’s district meet and will be joined at state by teammates Mavrick Knoles, Blake Bussing and Starr.

RAL’s Nathan Richards also advanced to state after placing 113th a year ago.

Class 1A

The seventh-ranked Toledo boys also appear to be peaking at the right time after winning the SWW 1A Evergreen and Southwest 1A District team titles.

Toledo placed all five of its runners in the top 20 at district to edge La Center 48-54 for the crown. Joshua Rose finished second at district, Ronnie Neumann fourth, Mikhail Hopf 11th, Willie Reynolds 16th and Joe Durham 17th. Rose, a sophomore, placed 34th at last year’s state meet, Neumann was 61st as a junior and Reynolds 88th as a sophomore.

Kalama’s Jeremy Schoenberg and Kody Shriver, and Castle Rock’s Travis Patrick are making their first trips to state.

Among the girls, eighth-ranked Ilwaco advanced to state after finishing third at the district meet. Senior Cameo Ulbricht, who finished second at district, is Ilwaco’s lone returner to state after placing 12th as a junior. Making their state debuts are Ilwaco’s Cindy Pacheco, Leticia Cervantes, Raven Rogers and Brittany King.

Kalama freshman Kaitlyn Horn will also make her state debut after placing 21st at district.

Class 2B

Two runners from Wahkiakum and a pair from Naselle will attempt to better their individual placings from a year ago.

Naselle’s Cramer Smith and Nathan Reitz qualified for state after finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, at the district meet. Reitz was 27th at state as a sophomore and Smith was 103rd as a freshman.

Wahkiakum senior Bradlee Pugh and sophomore Collan Riley placed 15th and 17th, respectively, at district. They finished 37th and 70th in last year’s state meet.

Class 4A

Kaiti Wood is Kelso’s lone state qualifier, and will make her debut on the Pasco course after finishing 15th in the Bi-District meet at Kelso last Saturday.