High School Sports
Seamount King cross country: Ademe, Tyee make history

By Matt Massey
Special to The Seattle Times

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WHITE CENTER — Less than five years ago, Sifrash Ademe lived a world apart from Tyee High School in her native Ethiopia.

Yesterday, she was making girls cross-country history for the Totems.

Ademe, a senior, became Tyee's first league champion in 29 years of the sport at the school by cruising to a 28.06-second victory in the Seamount League King Division meet at Evergreen High School.

Ademe stopped the timer in 19 minutes, 39.80 seconds over the hilly 3.1-mile course to bring home the Totems' first individual championship trophy since the girls program started in 1976. She pulled clear at the midway point of the race and shook free from co-leader Courtney Matthew, a sophomore from Hazen who finished in 20:07.86.

"I felt strong," said Ademe, who moved with her two brothers early in 2000 to join her mother Ygardu Ferede six years after her arrival. "I just kept my pace. The more I run, the more I gain. That's how I run."

It did seem as if Ademe got stronger as the race went on. Her strong start and finish is amazing consider this is just her third season of competitive running.

"She's unbelievably mentally tough," said Tyee coach Bob Guenther, the 82-year-old who started the girls program in 1976. "She likes hills. She's certainly one of the better runners in the area."

"You're just very happy to see this occur," Guenther added of seeing the first Tyee girl take home a league crown. "It means you must have been doing something right. It also means Sifrash worked very hard."

But everyone else was left chasing Ademe to no avail. Hazen's Anne Hinckley was third in 20:54.08 as the Highlanders repeated as girls team champions with 33 points to runner-up Renton's 53.

In addition to Matthew's second and Hinckley's third, Hazen placed all five counting runners in the top 27 and four among the top five. Teammates Stephanie Melrose, a senior, was fourth overall in 21:24.78 and another senior, Jean Hinckley, took fifth in 21:40.57.
 
On the boys side, Lindbergh senior Sam Ahlbeck repeated as the Seamount King individual champion and Hazen won the team title with 52 points to 63 for second-place Highline.

The front-running Ahlbeck shook off some early pressure to win going away in a time of 16:19.43 — 19.42 seconds faster than his closest rival, Highline's Craig Hanson (16:38.85).

"They tried to run me down," said Ahlbeck, who still is in heavy training with an aim at state. "Those guys are good runners, so you've got to be at your best to get them.

"My season doesn't end until Dec. 4. I've got to save my peak."

Hazen won the boys title despite losing two runners not finishing the race because of injury.

The Highlanders' top finisher was senior Jonathan Argyle, who hit the line in third place with a clocking of 16:43.83.

The Hazen boys placed all five counting runners in the top 22 and four among the top 11 as No. 5 scoring runner Jan Wnek, a sophomore, took 22nd in a personal-best effort. Wnek hit the wire in 17:55.24.

The Highlanders' Justin Fudge and Brad Velasquez couldn't complete the course due to injuries. Fudge came back for his first race in five weeks after sitting out with a foot problem and Velasquez rolled an ankle near the halfway point of the race and Hazen coach Mark Sabo pulled out of the race shortly thereafter.