ONALASKA — The Central 2B League Championships in Onalaska looked like they were bound to be just like any other race for the Rainier Mountaineers, with their four star runners immediately taking a sizable lead.
Until they made the wrong turn.
Komaire Robles, Alexis Myers, Jazzlyn Shumate and Kinsley Barlow jumped out to a strong start Thursday, but instead of taking a second lap around the track, they headed straight into the wooded area toward Carlisle Lake Park.
Confusion ballooned among the local coaches and what course of action to take as the top 11 runners unknowingly careened further away from the designated route. The coaches decided that when the runners returned to the track from the wooded area, they would run the second lap before turning up the hill toward the finish line.
After that kerfuffle, the Mountaineers still ended up on top with their ninth straight C2BL championship. Sophomore Komaire Robles added to her trophy case with her first career league title, finishing in 20 minutes and 19:20 seconds. Robles also won the district title and earned a state medal as a freshman last fall.
It wasn’t as easy as it might have appeared on paper, as she finished 32 seconds before the second-place runner. But Robles hadn’t quite been thrown a curveball like the Onalaska course in her young career.
“I’ve always been very bad at instructions and where I’m running. I really have no thoughts going through my brain,” Robles said. “I hit the mile mark, and they said 4:20, and I was like, ‘Something is very wrong. There’s no way.’ I’m gonna remember that one for a while.”
Sophomore Alexis Myers and senior Jazzlyn Shumate duked it out for second place, as the youngster got the better of the veteran by less than a quarter of a second.
Toledo sophomore Braelyn Nyberg edged out Rainier junior Kinsley Barlow for fourth, but Barlow put forth her best mark of the season at 22:01.9. It was her second-best race of her career, falling only behind her state time last year.
“I’m happy to place in the top five. I feel like it really helped our team,” Barlow said. “I’ve been trying to really stick by my team in a race.”
Rainier head coach Rob Henry was impressed with how his team responded after a wild start to the race. But he believes nothing can throw off his squad, especially after they ran through a gauntlet to win the 2B state title last year.
“I think it probably spooked a few of them,” Henry said of the start. “It took them out of the race a little bit. But it actually made for an interesting race. The times weren’t as great as I’m sure they were looking for, but today is just a day to get through and get ready for districts next week.”
Toledo finished second as a team, led by Norberg’s fourth-place finish and Lilly Cooper’s PR of 23:14.16 to come in seventh. Junior Onica Chase (12th, 24:32.81), junior Peyton Holter (14th, 25:45.78), and freshman Xtyn Norberg (15th, PR of 25:46.08) all placed in the top 15, as well.
Mossyrock senior Joan Wedam took sixth at 23:09.98, and Adna eighth grader Chloe Gelvin earned eighth at 23:54.74. Mossyrock eighth grader Alexandria Hammermeister also impressed with a new PR of 24:07.36 to finish in 10th place.
Thursday’s league championship marked the first time since 2021 that Rainier swept the league crowns, as the boys won the team title. Next up is the District 4 Championships that Rainier will host on Nov. 1 before state in Pasco on Nov. 8. Barlow believes the Mountaineers have a strong chance to repeat their glory from last year’s trip to Pasco.
“This year, it set the expectation that we should try to achieve that again or we should try to get close because there’s a lot of good teams this year,” Barlow said. “We did it last year. I think we can do it again. It’s a really big goal that we’ve set.”
