Emerald Ridge snaps Raiders' streak

By CASEY OLSON

The Mirror

It was a record-breaking day on the cross country course at Thomas Jefferson High School Wednesday afternoon in a three-way meet between the Raiders, Emerald Ridge and Bethel.

A pair of course records were shattered, the Jefferson girls extended their South Puget Sound League South Division winning streak to 36-straight meets and the Raider boys dropped their first league meet in three years.

Hassan Mead of Emerald Ridge smashed the boys’ course record by more than 30 seconds as the Jaguars handed Jefferson, the three-time defending SPSL South champions, a 29-32 loss. The Raiders did beat Bethel, 15-46.

Mead covered the 3.1-mile course at Jefferson in 16 minutes, 22.8 seconds. The course record had been 16:54 by TJ’s Kyle Anderson in 2003. The Raiders were led by the second-place finish by senior Erik Church, who also ran under the previous course record in 16:38.4. Seniors Serge Marchenko (17:28) and Jon Harper (17:32) finished third and fourth, respectively. But it was the depth of the Jaguars that proved to be the difference. Emerald Ridge runners finished fifth through 10th to down the Raiders.

Things were a lot easier for the TJ girls. The Raiders swept first- through fifth-place and had 13 of the top 17 placers over the 3.1-mile course. Jefferson beat Emerald Ridge, 15-47, and downed Bethel, 15-49.

Jefferson was led by junior Kenna Patrick, who broke the previous course record by over 40 seconds. Patrick won the race in a time of 19:36.5. The old record of 20:22 was set by Tera Brockman in 2002.

Senior Hilorie Hildebrandt was second in 20:07, Vannessa Bennum was third in 20:25, Meridith Dyer was fourth in 20:43 and Cassidy Robey finished fifth in 20:57.

The Jefferson girls haven’t lost an SPSL South meet since the 2001 season and have won four-straight league championships.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.