By ERICK WALKER
ewalker@kentreporter.com
Kailey Ulland was down to her final opportunity of the cross country season this past Saturday during the Class 4A state meet at Pasco’s Sun Willows Golf Course.
That final opportunity didn’t only have to do with the close of the season, but also surpassing Kent-Meridian star Alexia Martin, who had gotten the better of Ulland, a junior from Kentwood, at both the sub-district and district meets in recent weeks.
On Saturday, however, Ulland rose to the occasion – barely – nipping Martin by a fraction of a second en route to bringing home an eighth-place medal.
“I had one more chance and I didn’t want to miss it,” Ulland said. “Alexia pushes me to do better.”
Ulland broke the tape on the 3.1-mile course in 18:54, literally just a few steps and a split second ahead of ninth-place Martin, whose final official time also was 18:54.
It was a good race, Martin conceded.
“She has been trying to beat me for a while,” Martin said. “We always are kind to each other, so it’s no big deal (that she beat me). I just didn’t realize how fast the course was. I started to get too relaxed. You’re supposed to really start sprinting in the final 600 meters, By the time I realized that, Kailey was already in front of me.
“She beat me by a hair.”
Ulland established a new personal record with the run, beating her old record by 18 seconds.
“That’s a bit ridiculous,” Ulland laughed. “I think it was just the excitement of the race.”
Kentwood coach Ken Paul was thrilled by Ulland’s performance.
“She looked competitive the whole way through,” Paul said. “She looked like she had fire in the belly. She ran competitively and with confidence.”
Tahoma’s girls squad also rose to the occasion, finishing second in the competition, a redemptive effort after being knocked off the podium when one of the runners was disqualified.
The top 16 individuals earned medals while the top four teams brought home trophies. Ulland and Martin were the lone local females to bring home medals. Garfield’s Anna Dailey won the girls race with a time of 17:58. Ulland and Martin finished just behind Natasha Verma of Stanwood, who clocked in at 18:51.
The Bears were led by Hannah Mittelstaedt, who finished 18th with a time of 19:05, while Elizabeth Oosterhout and Juliana Mock came in at 20th and 21st respectively.
Tahoma coach Gary Conner said at the beginning of the season that was the expectation for his girls squad, to not only be on the podium but potentially contend for the state title.
In the boys race, Kent-Meridian finished higher than any other local team, bringing home 16th place with 359 points.
Kent-Meridian, which won the South Puget Sound League North Division title, had designs of finishing among the top 10. Despite not quite reaching that goal, the season was a wild success, coach Ernie Ammons said.
“It started from the get go,” Ammons said. “We put the plan in motion and they came together as a team. There was never a point where it was about individual results, it was about them striving together to be as good as they could be as a team.
“It all started with that win over Tahoma.”
Meanwhile, Kentridge’s Alex Horton and Kentwood’s Danny Lunder also ran in the state race. Horton finished in 81st place with a time of 16:48 followed closely by Lunder, who took 84th place with a time of 16:50. Tahoma senior Casey Campbell finished in 86th, not far behind Lunder, with a time of 16:51.
