WASHINGTON STATE MEET

Hofstee Wins 2A Title In 17:20.8; Rodriguez Takes 3A Race In 17:22; NXR Northwest Champion Anna Callahan Defends 4A Crown

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Tommy Wolf Photos (2A/1A/1B/2B)

INTERVIEWS

PASCO, Wash. – In a tale of two races at the Washington state cross country championships, one runner looked to continue her legacy; the other was in the midst of getting one started.

East Valley-Spokane’s Logan Hofstee earned her second consecutive state title and Mercer Island freshman phenom Sophia Rodriguez collected her first to cap off a gloomy Saturday at the Sun Willows Golf Course.

While both races told their own story, they also shared similarities: top five all-time course performances.

Hofstee, ranked 29th in the latest DyeStat national individual rankings, blew away the 2A girls field by 53 seconds, running 17 minutes, 20.8 seconds for the 5-kilometer race to move herself to No. 4 on the all-time state performance list.

“Definitely coming in I would be happy if I got 17:40, maybe 17:30 on a good day,” Hofstee said, who won last year’s 2A race in 18:00.6. “Once I saw the clock, I was like, ‘OK, might as well push a little harder and see if I could get it under 17:20.’”

Hofstee’s time also set a new 2A course record, besting former Sedro-Woolley star Kristen Garcia’s time of 17:52 from the 2017 state meet.

Roughly an hour later, Rodriguez found herself within reach of Hofstee’s time as she made her way down the final straightaway before crossing the finish line to win the girls 3A race in 17:22, bumping up to No. 5 on the all-time list in her state meet debut.

“It’s so special,” Rodriguez said, who moved from Dallastown, Pa. this past summer. “Coming here as my first time in a new state, really showed how much it was special.”

Before she could even turn around to watch the remaining field come through the finish line, Rodriguez caught a glimpse of her older sister Victoria finishing right behind in second in 17:36.6, a time just outside the top 10 all-time.

“It was amazing,” Rodriguez said. “You dream about this kind of stuff and it all coming together. It’s all emotions.”

All-time individual performances by Hofstee and Rodriguez were followed by numerous schools repeating as state champions, including both Sehome squads sweeping the 2A team titles.

The Sehome girls collected a third consecutive state title, defeating Anacortes 40-87 with four runners finishing on the podium stand led by Lil Desler (18:50.6, 3rd) and Abby Rusk (18:56.8, 4th) finishing in the top five. 

The Sehome boys earned the program’s first state title since 2019, scoring 62 points to Anacortes' 86 points, with Nick Gargano (16:00.2, 9th) and Skyler Gillham (16:01.5, 10th) guiding the Mariners to the program’s 12th title. 

Parker Mong of Anacortes came away with the 2A boys individual title in 15:27.3.

The Issaquah boys fended off a late comeback from Kamiakin to repeat as 4A champions by a score of 118-125, with Connor Rickey finishing eighth in 15:59.4 and Henry Tait in 16th in 16:12.9 to lead the Eagles.

Ezra Teeples picked up the individual title for second-place Kamiakin, running 15:33. His older brother, Isaac, won individual crowns in 2019 and 2021. 

Central Kitsap girls and Seattle Prep boys repeated as champions in the 3A division, with the Cougars beating Bishop Blanchet 74-133 on the girls side and the Panthers defeating Mt. Spokane 80-123 on the boys side.

Jack Henzke led Seattle Prep with a third-place effort in 15:38.7, with teammate Liam Riley joining him on the podium stand in 13th in 16:09.2. 

Clare Herring, last year’s 3A girls runner-up, earned ninth in 18:41.1 to lead Central Kitsap.

Mercer Island’s Owen Powell earned the individual win in the 3A boys race, running 15:19.2 to beat out Bishop Blanchet’s Vincent Recupero in 15:27.8.

Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls made a come-from-behind effort to win a second consecutive 1A girls team title, besting Seattle Academy 128-138. Sadie Meyring, runner-up in last season’s state meet as a sophomore but has battled injuries as a junior, earned 17th in 20:10.3 to lead the Eagles’ charge.

Hoquiam’s Jane Roloff ran 18:28.1 to claim the 1A individual title, becoming the first Grizzly girl to do so in program history.

Pope John Paul II won a fourth consecutive 1B/2B girls state title, outlasting Garfield-Palouse 45-51, with freshman Ruby Henry collecting the individual title in 19:29.1 to lead the way for the Eagles.

The Mount Si girls, Cedar Park Christian-Bothell boys and Valley Christian boys all made history each winning their program’s first state championship in their respective races.

Led by twins Aleeya and Hailey Cossey, Mount Si scored 53 points to win the 4A title over Issaquah as Aleeya earned fourth in 18:20.8 and Hailey finished fifth in 18:29.

Skyline’s Anna Callahan ran 17:47 to win her second consecutive 4A individual title by 39 seconds.

Cedar Park Christian-Bothell took down defending 1A champions Bush 68-102, with Josiah Jaquith (16:34.2, 11th) and Isaac Montanes (16:36.9, 13th) earning podium finishes to lead the Eagles.

Will Carroll of Annie Wright collected the 1A individual title, running 16:01.7.

Valley Christian scored 77 points to beat Pope John Paul II for the 1B/2B boys title. Preston Arnold cracked the top 10 for the Panthers, finishing eight in 16:51.5.

Dexter Delaney from Liberty Bell ran away from the field by 41 seconds to win the 1B/2B individual title in 15:45.1.

Team Champions

4A: Issaquah boys 118 points; Mt. Si girls 53 points - RESULTS

3A: Seattle Prep boys 80; Central Kitsap girls 74 points  - RESULTS

2A: Sehome boys 62 points; Sehome girls 40 points  - RESULTS

1A: Cedar Park Christian-Bothell boys 68 points; Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls girls 128 points  - RESULTS

1B/2B: Valley Christian boys 77 points; Pope John Paul II girls 45 points  - RESULTS