Weinert takes 20th at district XC meet
By JOHN GALBREATH Sports Editor
The Sparts’ Wade Weinert grabbed 20th individually and the Stanwood High boys’ cross country team finished seventh among 4A schools in the area at last weekend’s District I Cross Country Championships held on South Whidbey High School’s 5,000- meter (3.1-mile) course. Stanwood’s runners accumulated 186 points, just two points behind sixth place Marysville-Pilchuck. Jackson High won the district crown with just 21 points.
“A great day to be a Spartan!” said head coach Jordan Sneva. “Our boys, who got 7th, ran with as much courage as the girls, who got first. The course was trashed by the last race and we had three boys fall a few times.”
Battling mud and, at times, a driving rain that seemed relentless to the point where one of the female runners noted that the course was “rather puddily,” Weinert posted a 17:27 time and finished just five places and 16 seconds out of a state-qualifying finish despite “falling hard twice on the course,” noted his coach Jordan Sneva. Regrettably, only the top 15 individuals qualified for the state meet.
The next four Stanwood harriers finished only eight places apart, creating a pack that was the best they’d formed this season. Junior Cody Howard (17:54), seniors Aaron Reed (17:58) and Mark Pelham (18:01), and freshman Tanner Nieman (18:04) took 38th, 40th, 43rd and 45th, respectively.
A pair of sophomores, Wolde Brown (18:30, 61st) and Aaron Sandquist (18:52, 73rd), also competed for the Spartans last Saturday afternoon.
