Jamie Good headed to state cross country meet

By Oliver Lazenby

With 1,000 meters left in the 5,000 meter district cross country race at South Whidbey Island High School last Saturday, Blaine’s top runner Jamie Good was in 31st place – three spots away from qualifying for the state meet.

It’s a tough, hilly course where very few athletes get their best times, especially for Blaine runners since they don’t have many hills to train on.

Good fought her way through the flat section of the course passing two runners from Bellingham and one from Archbishop Murphy and snagged the last spot at state with a time of 21 minutes and 15 seconds – nearly 40 seconds better than her last time on the course earlier this season.

Jamie Good rounds a corner in a race at Lake Padden in September. Photo by Oliver Lazenby.

“She’s a smart, calculated runner determined to claim her hard-earned spot at state,” head coach Fryth Rasar said after the meet.

Good had an impressive season; her average time at the 5,000 meters is more than seven minutes faster than last season. This will be her first trip to state, held Saturday, November 4 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

Overall, the Blaine girls team finished 11th out of 13 teams, beating Lynden and Sammamish. For Blaine, that’s an accomplishment – the girls didn’t even have enough runners to form an official team last year.

The boys finished last out of 14 teams. The top boys runners were Liam Lyons (19 minutes, 21 seconds), Malachi Crump (19 minutes, 43 seconds) and Tanner Sterling (20 minutes and 2 seconds).

“This is a very difficult course,” Rasar said. “The scoreboard doesn’t show it but every single one of them drastically improved their times from the last time we raced this course.”

For everyone but Good, cross country season is over. With a new coach and a lot of new runners, Blaine’s cross country program had a big year. A lot of the team is talking about running together over the winter, Rasar said.

“Most of them will be back next year but we will indeed miss our seniors,” Rasar said. “They were a fantastic crew.”