It is one of the most stirring sights in all of sport --- a single cross country team, with nearly 5,000 meters of distance run, charging the finish line en masse. So it happened last Thursday, Oct 8, at Lincoln Park.
In a five-team meet, Ingraham had already placed three runners in the top six. Chief Sealth had commandeered third and fifth.
A lone Franklin runner had finished fourth. Then, over the crest of a short rise 120 meters from the finish, they---or rather it--- appeared: the West Seattle phalanx. Leading the array came Michael Wickham, then Jesse Tarabochia, then Lars Stromberg, and Chad Miller, and Eli Swedlow.
All five West Seattle scoring runners poured across the finish line in a stream. The next Ingraham runner was nowhere to be seen.
Sometimes in cross country, the scoring runners are not the whole story. In a seven-man varsity, the last two function as non-scoring displacers, bumping other teams' runners farther down the standings.
West Seattle's Nick Barnecut finished 14th. Still no Ingraham runner. Then the hero of the day, Ryan Foley, in 17th place, crossed the finish line.
Immediately behind him, in 18th, came the next scoring runner from Ingraham. Foley had answered the challenge and overtaken the Ingraham runner in the final mile. The final score: West Seattle 46, Ingraham 47. Chief Sealth, with 56 points, finished third.
Daniel Perrine, who himself finished third, led Sealth with the sterling time of 18:27. A resurging Alex Sampson finished fifth for Sealth while at the same time contributing to the West Seattle cause.
With just under a mile to go, Sampson was sixth, on the heels of an Ingraham runner. His strong finish also pushed Ingraham one point down the scoring table. Michael Autenrieth, in 13th, was in the mix for Sealth, too.
In the four-team girls' race, Sealth, led by Courtney Moore, finished second. Moore finished fourth individually in 24:30; teammate Isabella Proctor was eighth. West Seattle had an incomplete team but saw a strong race by Sam Mashburn, who finished seventh.
Sealth competes next on Wednesday, Oct. 14; West Seattle next on Thursday, Oct. 15; and the Metro League Championship Meet is Thursday, Oct 22, all three meets at Lower Woodland.
