Tri-Cities Prep’s St. Hilaire dominates field to win WA cross country title
Ciaran St. Hilaire was brimming with confidence before the 1B/2B boys race even started at the WIAA State High School Cross Country championships Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
“I knew I had it before the race started,” said St. Hilaire (whose first name is pronounced Kee-Run).
The Tri-Cities Prep junior bolted out in front of the pack right at the start of the 5-kilometer race and never looked back.
“I wanted to stick with everybody for the first mile,” St. Hilaire. “I felt like it was my race during the last mile, about where the 18th hole is at.”
St. Hilaire crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 27.4 seconds. That was 22 seconds ahead of the next runner.
In 2021, as a sophomore, St. Hilaire finished fourth in the same race with a time of 16:52.5.
Last spring, St. Hilaire was a member of the Kamiakin High School track and field team because Tri-Cities Prep doesn’t have a track team. And that meant he worked out every day with Isaac Teeples and Grayson Wilcott. And that made him better.
Teeples — the boys 4A state cross country champion in 2021 — is now running at BYU, while Wilcott (who finished third last year in the 4A race) now runs at WSU.
“(Ciaran) is such a good kid,” said Kamiakin boys cross country coach Matt Rexus, who coached St. Hilaire and the other runners in the spring for the Braves track team.
Rexus smiled and added, “I just wish he’d run for me now.”
St. Hilaire was one of the local standouts during a day that saw over 1,000 high school boys and girls traverse a rolling, hilly course that was hampered with winds all day.
Other area athletes who ran well included Walla Walla senior Brody Hartley, who finished second in the boys 3A race — only losing to Lakes’ Cruize Corvin.
In the boys 4A race, Kamiakin sophomore Ezra Teeples — Isaac’s younger brother — ran a tough race to finish fifth.
Teeples was in 15th place after the first mile. But he picked off five runners to be in 10th at the 2-mile mark, and then another five more at the finish line.
College Place’s Jio Herrera crossed the finish line in the 1A boys race in 12th place.
And Richland senior Jace Woodard finished his Bombers cross country career with an 18th-place finish in the 4A boys race.
Here’s a quick look at each race:
4A BOYS: Emerald Ridge senior Conner Wirth pulled away during the final mile to win the individual title in a time of 15:37.4. That was just ahead of Isaac Briggs, of Rogers High School of Puyallup, who had a 15:39.7 time.
Issaquah won the school’s first-ever boys team title.
“These guys are just an incredible unit that works out together,” said Eagles head coach Liza Rickey, who is the daughter of Eisenhower coaching legend Phil English. Rickey’s two sons, Connor and Brennen, are also on the team, “So this makes it even sweeter.”
4A GIRLS: Skyline junior Anna Callahan never trailed in her race, finishing 18:03.5 — the second fastest girls time and well ahead of runner-up Eliza White of Curtis and her 18:24.30.
Tahoma and Issaquah each finished with 116 points, but Tahoma won the team title with its sixth runner crossing before Issaquah’s.
3A BOYS: Cruize Corvin led from start to finish to win the individual title in a time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds. That was the fastest time run by anyone on Saturday.
“I knew there was a lot of competition out there,” said Corvin, whose father Curt was a standout runner at the UW. “The wind out there was tough, especially because there seemed like there was always a consistent headwind.”
Seattle Prep held off Bishop Blanchet 75-81 for the team title.
3A GIRLS: in the closest race of the day, Gig Harbor senior Reese Morkert came on in a hurry to outlean Central Kitsap’s Clare Herring at the finish line to win. Morkert finished in 18:24.0, while Herring came in at 18:24.1.
“It worked out really well,” Morkert said. “I knew at the finish line I had to get a lean in on (Herring).”
Herring found solace in her team winning the state title with 70 points, beating Gig Harbor (89 points) and Bishop Blanchet (121). It was the first time Central Kitsap had ever won a team title.
2A BOYS: Sehome’s Zack Munson ran away from the field to take the 2A boys individual crown in 15 minutes, 37 seconds — almost 20 seconds ahead of the next finisher. Munson’s time was the second fastest among all boys. Bellingham won the 2A team title with 86 points.
2A GIRLS: Anacortes senior Jessica Frydenlund couldn’t defend her title, as junior Logan Hofstee of East Valley-Spokane pulled away over the last mile to cross the finish line first. Hofstee had the fastest time of all girls regardless of classification with a 18:00.60. Sehome won another girls title with 54 points.
1A BOYS: Medical Lake’s Reid Headrick won the 1A boys title. The senior covered the course in 16:01.0, ahead of second-place finisher Andrew Luce of Lynden Christian and his 16:10.4. Bush came away with the 1A team title with 95 points, while Northwest was second at 100.
1A GIRLS: Alexis Leone, a junior from Seton Catholic of Vancouver, defended her 1A girls title, covering the 5K course in 18 minutes, 22.30 seconds. That was 36 seconds ahead of the next fastest runner. Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls earned the 1A girls team title.
1B/2B BOYS: Chewelah took the 1B/2B team title with 83 points.
1B/2B GIRLS: Josie McLaughlin, from St. George’s of Spokane, won the 1B/2B girls title in 19:40.30. Pope John Paul 2 High School of Lacey won the team title, edging runner-up Garfield-Palouse 47-48.