They ran at or near the top of every race they competed in this season.
Unbeaten in the South Puget Sound League. District champions.
A state title seemed like a plausible goal for the Tahoma boys and girls cross country teams last weekend in the Class 4A state meet at Pasco’s Sun Willows Golf Course.
Instead, the Bears’ aspirations took a shot to the midsection.
In the girls race, the first of the two Class 4A events, junior Hannah Mittelstaedt was disqualified when officials said she was trading elbows with Central Valley’s Eden Lake near the finish line.
The disqualification took 11th place away from Mittelstaedt and wound up adding 61 points to Tahoma’s team total. The result was an eighth-place finish and 220 points.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Tahoma coach Gary Conner, who added that he had not seen such a call in 19 years of coaching cross country. “This isn’t just a week of hard work taken away, this is nine months of hills, intervals … and it was two feet from the finish line. There was nobody behind them, nobody in front.
“It’s heartbreaking.”
Mittelstaedt agrees, but admitted in trading inadvertent elbows with Lake.
“It’s disappointing,” she said. “It happens everywhere on the course. People get shoved and tripped and they’re not disqualified. I wasn’t intending to impede her (path) in any way.
“It definitely was not intentional.”
Conner did file a protest on the spot, but isn’t expecting much to come of it. Until that ruling, the Bears had been fourth, which would have meant a team trophy.
The other runner was not disqualified.
“They were both throwing elbows for at least the last 100 meters,” Conner said.
Lauren Clawson (33rd, 19:35) was the next Tahoma finisher in the race, followed by Julianna Mock (34th, also in 19:35) and Mollie Bahlenhorst (84th, 20:16).
The controversial call had an apparent ripple effect on the boys, who began their race shortly after the girls. A sport such as cross country requires a certain level of routine. Without Conner at the start of the race – he was talking to race officials about Mittelstaedt’s situation – the boys fell a little flat.
Surprisingly, Tahoma, which has been ranked among the state’s top five all year, didn’t land a single runner among the top 20. Kelton Sears led the way (21st, 16:11) followed by Casey Campbell (45th, 16:25) and Phil Lussier (56th, 16:35).
“They found out the bad news (about Hannah) and ran with a burden,” Conner said of the boys. “It had a trickle-down effect … just a crappy situation.”
The boys finished eighth overall with 205 points. Perennial power Mead won the race with 98, while top-ranked Jackson took second 106.
• ALSO: Kent’s highest finisher at the meet was Kentwood sophomore Kailey Ulland, who took home 49th place with a 19:47 time. … Kentwood junior Tim Pettit posted a 89th place,16:57 finish.
