Cross Country | Redmond runs like the wind to KingCo titles

Not even fierce gusts of wind and flying debris could stop the Redmond cross-country team Thursday.

Mustangs junior Sarah Lord won her second straight KingCo 4A girls championship with a personal-best 18 minutes, 7 seconds, and senior Anthony Ellis took the boys' title in 16:08 on the 3.1-mile Lincoln Park course in West Seattle.

Redmond's boys capped an undefeated league season with a team title and had the top three individual finishers Thursday. Aiden Irish (16:11) and Mack Young (16:12) finished seconds behind their teammate.

"Going 1-2-3 is great," said Ellis, who had to avoid falling on slippery leaves and pine needles.

In the girls' race, Lord and teammate Devin McMahon, who was runner-up, helped each other by exchanging the lead every half-mile.

"It was great running with Devin, not only to take turns blocking the wind, but also having someone there that wants you to do as well as you want them to do," said Lord, who improved on her winning time last year by eight seconds.

Despite the 1-2 finish, the Redmond girls finished second to Eastlake for the second straight year. That gave the Wolves the league title, as Redmond, Eastlake and Woodinville were tied at the end of the regular season.

With a windstorm in the forecast, KingCo coaches were glad the race was able to take place. Expecting the worst, they met before the meet to plan possible makeup dates next week.

"I told my kids to look at the negative and make it a positive," said Eastlake coach Troy Anderson about the wind. "I told them everyone had to deal with the same conditions."

The Eastlake boys finished a school-best second despite no runners in the top seven. The Wolves' previous best was third in 2000.

"We emphasize running as a pack and working as a team," Anderson said.

The top six teams and top 30 individuals in both the boys and girls races advance to the district meet next Saturday at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah.

Of the state-qualifying meet next week, Redmond coach Denis Villeneuve said, "The No. 1 priority is to qualify for state and keep everyone healthy."

The Mustangs girls and boys teams won district titles last year before finishing fifth and ninth, respectively, at state.