The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

SPOKANE VALLEY - Cold, wind and rain added to the ob­stacles facing the WP Cross Country team at Saturday's District Meet at the Plantes Ferry Soccer Complex here. District 9 combines with District 7 with the top four Women's teams and 20 indi­viduals and the top six Men's teams and 30 individu­als qualifying for State.

Two WP racers - Emily Adams and EJ Meserve - faced the ele­ments and their competitors with the speed and perseverance necessary to advance to the state com­petition.

Freshman Adams was the first WP runner to race the wet and slick 5,000 meter course. She ran a strong race, finishing fourth out of 65 racers, with a time of 20:54.51. In the last stretch of the race, Adams battled it out, neck-and-neck with Reardon junior Harley Strope. Strope won third place by a "toe" at the fin­ish with a time of 20:54.36, nudging out Adams by .15 of a second.

St. George's freshman Madison Ward (19:54.48) finished first, taking a strong lead from the start and main­taining it throughout the race. Second place went to junior Jordan Porubeck of St. John-Endicott with a time of 20:32.07. Porubek was the only District 9 run­ner to place ahead of Adams.

"Emily was the second District 9 competitor, beat­ing Asotin's top female runner, junior Lucy Egg­leston and St. John's senior, Heather Siegel," said Coach Joanna Lanning. "I am very proud of her effort today. She competed hard but kept her head, as she wants to have an excellent showing at her first State appearance next week. She's our rock star!"

"I was surprised at how high I placed," said Adams, wiping blood from the lip that she'd bitten in concen­tration during the race. "I'd looked at the times before hand and I'd figured I would place about eighth, so this is a nice surprise."

Senior E.J. Meserve also put forth a stellar perfor­mance, placing 13th out of 87 runners. "E.J. set a goal and met it," said Lanning. "This will be his third consecu­tive year attending the State Meet. He looked strong and relaxed the entire race, set­ting him up to be competi­tive next weekend. I couldn't be happier with both of my athletes."

WP's E.J. Meserve (left photo) and Emily Adams both placed well enough at the District Meet in Spokane Valley last weekend to advance to the state meet.

The Men's team failed to advance, placing eighth out of ten teams, ahead of Mary Walker and Pomeroy. "The freshmen boys, Kyle Gradwohl (20:27.92), Skylar Wood (20:54.99) and Jared Farley (21:05.20), competed well but junior Tyler Shafer (23:22.32) struggled today," said Lanning. "Their com­bined efforts weren't enough for the sixth place finish re­quired for entry to the State meet. However, they all gained valuable experience and worked very hard this fall. I'm proud of each and every one of them."

Dayton junior Levi Laib -- the Bulldog's sole male runner -- broke his personal record in the 5,000 meter to place just ahead of the WP freshmen, with a time of 20:51.12.

The state cross-country meet will be held Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The women's race begins at 10 a.m. and the Men's race begins at 11:30.