ARLINGTON — Two miles in, Kellan Roberts felt like he had nothing left in the tank.

At that point, the Shorewood sophomore trailed only two runners in the District 1 3A Boys Cross Country Championships at Lakewood High School on Saturday. The first was his teammate, senior Elijah Graves, who created quite a bit of distance on his way to setting a new meet record of 15:03.8. No one could touch Graves, but as Roberts entered the woods portion of the course, he felt like Stanwood sophomore Casey Westerfield was in reach.

Roberts picked that moment to make his move, hoping that he would have enough to hang onto second place through the final lap. It proved to be the right decision.

Less than 26 seconds after Graves crossed the finish line to secure the individual district title, Roberts rolled in right behind at 15:29.3. With seniors Noah Raupp (16:14.3) placing 12th, Brayden Yee (16:17.2) placing 16th and Jack DeLaChapelle (16:34.4) placing 24th to round out the Stormrays’ top five, Shorewood cruised to the team title with 55 points. Edmonds-Woodway (80), Mountlake Terrace (93) and Shorecrest (104) each qualified for the 3A State Championships in Pasco next week by placing in the top four.

“I didn’t feel like I really had anything left, but sometimes your body is deceiving,” Roberts said. “I had enough to get past him, and I was praying that I could stay in front of those two guys (Westerfield in third and Mountlake Terrace senior Reilly Brookhart in fourth) because they’re also both great, so hard race.”

With Graves running the entire race in front, he did not know exactly what was going on behind him until after he crossed the finish line. The sight of Roberts being the first to cross after him invoked familiar feelings.

“It feels great. I think that’s really the best part of running,” Graves said. “Last year, it was really me and Max (Billet) pushing each other. It was always great to cross the line and see that he was right behind me, or to cross the line and see him standing there right in front of me waiting. So I really love that part of the sport, and it’s been great doing that this year with Kellan, really chasing those big goals together.”

Despite graduating Billett and Tristan Crittenden from last year’s team that placed second at states, the Stormrays have successfully filled the void with an elite 1-2 punch supported by a strong pack behind them. Shorewood’s No. 3 and No. 6 runners finished just under 22 seconds apart from each other, and the team believes they can make that margin even smaller next week.

“I think it just makes you way more focused,” DeLaChapelle said. “If you’re just running by yourself or you don’t see any of your teammates, it kind of demoralizes your mental and you’re kind of like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t really matter,’ but if you kind of see people around you, then it’s like, ‘Okay, I got to go. I got to go.’”

Stormrays coach Joel Reese credits the program’s culture that has the underclassmen learn from the seniors they ultimately replace. It’s not a track relay, but Shorewood continually passes the baton.

“These guys come from a line of guys who really put in the work,” Reese said. “And they’ve just been emulating that this summer and throughout the course of the season, and it’s just showing off in their performances.”

Yet for Shorewood, district titles are not what the program strides for. All the focus is on improving from last year’s second-place finish at states.

“Coming into this, yes, we’re really focused on winning districts, but our big goal is state,” Raupp said. “So coming into this, we were kind of, overall, low stress. We were trying to be chill. I mean, we spent probably three hours just talking and chilling out in the tent before. And even during the race, yeah, we were trying to pick people off, but we were all relaxed. We knew we had it in the bag, so we had confidence coming into it.”

At this stage of the season, there’s not much more athletes can do to physically prepare. Shorewood even plans to taper down the mileage in training this week in order to enter states with fresher legs. Plenty of focus will go into the mental preparation, such as evaluating the competition, strategizing the course and trying to carry the confidence from Saturday’s performance.

“I just think that they’ve really been a cohesive group, and it’s been really fun to see them progress,” Reese said. “We have a really good group of seniors this year, and part of our performance is because of that leadership that’s been present all season. So we’re just excited for them. We know they put in the work, and excited to see how it culminates next week.”

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Edmonds-Woodway girls pack powers Warriors to District 1 3A Championship

As the first finishers in the District 1 3A Girls Cross Country Championships crossed the finish line, it was medley of runners wearing different singlets. Mount Vernon. Shorewood. Oak Harbor. Shorecrest. Stanwood.

Then, an onslaught of Warriors.

In a span of 7.6 seconds, the first four Edmonds-Woodway runners crossed the finish line among the top 11 individuals, laying the foundation for a team victory with 58 points. The Warriors narrowly edged out Oak Harbor (61) for the top spot, while Shorecrest (85) and Shorewood (92) rounded out the top four teams that qualified for the 3A State Championships.

Leading the charge for Edmonds-Woodway was senior Hazel Zackey (19:08.3) in seventh place. Junior Ravenna Tysland (19:13.9), freshman Emma Anderson (19:15.3) and sophomore Taylor Gaschk (19:15.9) placed ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively, and 21st-place freshman Leila Labuguen (20:02.3) beat out Oak Harbor’s No. 5 by just 4.6 seconds to secure the team title.

Mount Vernon junior Mia Checketts (18:25.3) won the individual title, and Shorewood sophomore Olivia Decker (18:39.7) placed second as the top area finisher. Stormrays sophomore Daphne LaClergue (13:26.7) won the two-mile Girls Unified race, and junior John Tan (14:30.0) placed third in the two-mile Boys Unified.

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Full District 1 3A Boys Championship Results

The top four teams qualified for the State Championship. The top 28 runners qualified as individuals.

Team Scores: 1. Shorewood— 55; 2. Edmonds-Woodway— 80; 3. Mountlake Terrace— 93; 4. Shorecrest— 104; 5. Everett— 152; 6. Mount Vernon— 158; 7. Stanwood— 185; 8. Meadowdale— 196; 9. Snohomish— 226; 10. Monroe— 256; 11. Sedro-Woolley— 295; 12. Oak Harbor— 324; 13. Ferndale— 409; 14. Marysville Getchell— 422; 15. Cascade— 442; 16. Lynnwood— 451.

Area Individual Qualifiers: 1. Elijah Graves (Shorewood)— 15:03.8; 2. Kellan Roberts (SW)— 15:29.3; 3. Casey Westerfield (Stanwood)— 15:33.7; 4. Reilly Brookhart (Mountlake Terrace)— 15:37.4; 5. Andrew Muilenberg (SC)— 15:42.7; 7. Harrison Miller (Edmonds-Woodway)— 15:54.3; 8. Tommy Brennan (EW)— 15:57.2; 9. Romeo Partida Del Rosario (Meadowdale)— 16:06.5; 10. Josiah Pratt (Everett)— 16:08.9; 11. Matthew Seyum (Mea)— 16:14.0; 12. Noah Raupp (SW)— 16:14.3; 13. Samuel Schreiner (Evt)— 16:15.2; 15. Luca Hooks (EW)— 16:16.9; 16. Brayden Yee (SW)— 16:17.2; 17. Telmen Ayushjav (MT)— 16:20.0; 18. Sam Cooley (Snohomish)— 16:23.0; 19. Jett Cooper (MT)— 16:24.9; 20. Aiden Poulin (SC)— 16:26.1; 21. Nolan Speer (EW)— 16:28.4; 22. Ethan Urquhart (SC)— 16:29.8; 23. Nason Park (MT)— 16:31.8; 24. Jack DeLaChaplle (SW)— 16:34.4; 25. Zain Pour (SC)— 16:35.0; 26. Aiden Witt (SW)— 16:36.1; 27. Dawson McDaniel (Stan)— 16:36.1

Area 2-Mile Boys Unified: 1. Derek Salmon (Arlington)— 11:48.8; 3. John Tan (SW)— 14:30.0.

Full District 1 3A Girls Championship Results

The top four teams qualified for the State Championship. The top 28 runners qualified as individuals.

Team Scores: 1. Edmonds-Woodway— 58; 2. Oak Harbor— 61; 3. Shorecrest— 85; 4. Shorewood— 92; 5. Snohomish— 128; 6. Mountlake Terrace— 212; 7. Mount Vernon— 218; 8. Stanwood— 230; 9. Everett— 234; 10. Meadowdale— 245; 11. Marysville Getchell— 256; 12. Sedro-Woolley— 278; 13. Monroe— 359; 14. Ferndale— 411; 15. Lynnwood— 478.

Area Individual Qualifiers: 2. Olivia Decker (SW)— 18:39.7; 4. Alex Urquhart (SC)— 18:47.3; 5. Aliana Coburn (Stan)— 19:07.2; 7. Hazel Zackey (EW)— 19:08.3; 8. Kate Schmidt (SW)— 19:12.7; 9. Ravenna Tysland (EW)— 19:13.9; 10. Emma Anderson (EW)— 19:15.3; 11. Taylor Gaschk (EW)— 19:15.9; 13. Lauren Kajimura (SC)— 19:29.7; 14. Riley Welch (SC)— 19:40.3; 15. Cleo Dalasta (SW)— 19:44.5; 18. Annabelle Sweat (Evt)— 19:56.3; 19. Lauren Twedt (Sno)— 20:00.6; 20. Ella Wylen (SC)— 20:01.1; 21. Leila Labuguen (EW)— 20:02.3; 22. Avery Snypp (Sno)— 20:05.0; 24. Eloise Cowan (Sno)— 20:07.5; 25. Rianna Ransom (Marysville Getchell)— 20:11.8; 26. River Zanis (Mea)— 20:13.8; 27. Sadie Sultan (MT)— 20:18.4; 28. Jenna Poole (Sno)— 20:21.3.

Area 2-Mile Girls Unified: 1. Daphne LaClergue (SW)— 13:26.7; 3. Kaelyn Roehl (A)— 17:02.2.