ARLINGTON — Exactly three weeks after Anabelle Klein saw her school record broken, the Arlington senior took it right back on the exact same course.

With her ninth-place finish in the District 1/2 4A Girls Cross Country Championships at Lakewood High School on Saturday, Klein (18:15.8) led the Eagles (106 points) to a second-place team finish behind Issaquah (94). Fifth-place Glacier Peak (132) was the only other area team to qualify, with freshman Dahlia Zener (17:47.4) in second and sophomore Jaya Holt (17:58.6) in fifth as the top two individuals from the area.

Behind Klein, freshman Ellie Oakes (18:36.7) placed 15th while junior Iylee Belisle (19:01.0) and freshman Brooklyn Koenigs (19:02.7) finished 20th and 21st, respectively, to form a formidable top four. Junior Peyton Parsons (19:49.7) placed 41st to round out Arlington’s top five.

“Today, the girls, we told them coming into the race, ‘Hey, perfect day, we get second, but you know, fourth (to qualify for states), somewhere in that range,’” Eagles coach Jon Murray said. “And I don’t think they ran perfect today. I think they ran well, but getting second, that was a big deal for them. … They came together today and hit probably close to where we thought as we head towards the state meet.”

Oakes ran 18:17.1 at the Nike Hole in the Wall XC Invitational on Oct. 10 to set a new school record, surpassing Klein’s mark by a little over two seconds. It stoked a healthy sense of competition between the two, pushing Klein to put her name back on top before season’s end.

“She took it from me this year, so then I was like, ‘Oh, I got to get that back,’” Klein said. “So yeah, that was pretty cool. And it’s just really cool having a teammate that close with me, and we could just go back and forth and race it out.”

Klein’s plan was to stick with the front pack for as long as she could. Despite falling back a bit in the second mile, she made up ground in the third to secure her spot in the top 10. She finished two seconds ahead of Redmond junior Lenorah McGarty, who became a reference point for Klein. Trailing McGarty late in the race, Klein focused on reeling her in to set up for a strong finish, and she was able to execute.

Murray attributed Klein’s experience and mental toughness for her ability to gut out the type of race she ran on Saturday.

“She’s mentally the toughest girl we’ve ever coached,” Murray said. “When she has those physical issues, she doesn’t give up at all. She’s had that in the past, which has caused her to go, ‘You know what? I’m blessed to be able to do what I do.’ And so today, going out and just taking business for her team… I’m proud of her for her confidence, and she’s super humble. So the girls are just following her lead. It’s fun to watch.”

With three freshmen in Arlington’s top seven, Klein’s leadership is even more valuable as the stakes get bigger. She’s felt the team grow more connected over the course of the season, and with the team’s ticket punched to states, she’s excited by the prospect of what they can accomplish in Pasco next week.

“Our team bond is so great this year,” Klein said. “We were believing we could qualify for state and place pretty high at this meet, but we had no idea we were capable of second until today. We just really saw that was possible, and next week we’re so ready to go for state.”

The Arlington boys also placed second as a team on Saturday, scoring 72 points. Skyline (53) won the team title, while Glacier Peak (97) and Jackson (152) placed third and fourth, respectively, to qualify for the state meet as well. Jackson sophomore Carter Corrigan (15:27.3) won the individual title, beating out Skyline senior Yashveer Brar in a final kick around the track into the finish line.

The Eagles return to state as a team after missing out by one point last season, which ended an 11-year state qualifying streak. Junior Jadon Cairus (15:46.4) finished fourth, junior Chase Koenigs (15:50.8) placed eighth and senior Joshua Nguyen (15:53.0) placed 11th to form a strong top three. Junior Brenden Roehl (16:10.6) and sophomore Colton Ramey (16:12.7) went back-to-back at 24th and 25th to round out the top five.

Arlington’s depth stepped up when the team needed it. Roehl placed fifth at last week’s Wesco Championships, and Koenigs is capable of placing in the top 5-10 at states, according to Murray, but is still working back to full health. With a better day next week, the Eagles feel good about how states could play out.

“You got a captain in Josh Nguyen. He’s been money the last two meets for us, just stepping up, having a great attitude and finishing strong,” Murray said. “He’s kind of the heartbeat of the guys right now with attitude and with showing what it’s supposed to look like. His stepping up along with Jadon, who was our No. 1 boy today, he’s really coming along and we didn’t expect him to be as far as he is right now.”

Nguyen said the race started out faster than he expected, crossing the first mile around 4:50 while hanging around in the top 15. Once he noticed runners around him starting to lose strength around the two-mile mark, including some teammates, he knew he needed to find another gear.

“I noticed a lot of the top guys were definitely falling back, and I know one of my teammates was behind me,” Nguyen said. “I had to make up for them, and just had to do it for my brothers to make up the points.”

Nguyen said the team will keep a positive mindset going into next week, with Saturday’s race serving as a reminder that they’re running for each other and not just themselves.

The Eagles also had a strong presence in the two-mile Ambulatory and Unified races, with senior Ramon Little (11:44.8) winning the District Ambulatory title and senior Derek Salmon (11:48.8) winning the Boys Unified race. Additionally, freshman Kaelyn Roehl (17:02.2) placed third in the Girls Unified race.

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District 1/2 4A Girls Championship Results

The top five teams qualified for the State Championship. The top 35 runners qualified as individuals.

Team Scores: 1. Issaquah— 94; 2. Arlington— 106; 3. Mount Si— 117; 4. Lincoln (Seattle)— 119; 5. Glacier Peak— 132; 6. Jackson— 154; 7. Lake Washington— 166; 8. Redmond— 172; 9. Eastlake— 198; 10. Skyline— 231; 11. Woodinville— 303; 12. Kamiak— 347; 13. Juanita— 357; 14. Lake Stevens— 386; 15. Newport (Bellevue)— 405; 16. North Creek— 455; 17. Bothell— 485; 18. Hazen— 569; 19. Mariner— 623.

Area Individual Qualifiers: 2. Dahlia Zener (Glacier Peak)— 17:47.4; 5. Jaya Holt (GP)— 17:58.6; 9. Anabelle Klein (Arlington)— 18:15.8; 15. Ellie Oakes (A)— 18:36.7; 18. Cameron Erdmann (GP)— 18:53.1; 19. Elena Schiebel (Jackson)— 19:00.3; 20. Iylee Belisle (A)— 19:01.0; 21. Brooklyn Koenigs (A)— 19:02.7; 22. Chandra Sankara Narayanan (J)— 19:03.4; 25. Serena Raam (Kamiak)— 19:20.0; 33. Kaiira Yates (J)— 19:28.9.

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

District 1/2 4A Boys Championship Results

The top five teams qualified for the State Championship. The top 35 runners qualified as individuals.

Team Scores: 1. Skyline— 53; 2. Arlington— 72; 3. Glacier Peak— 97; 4. Jackson— 152; 5. Redmond— 170; 6. Issaquah— 191; 7. Lincoln (Seattle)— 195; 8. Kamiak— 211; 9. Mount Si— 214; 10. Woodinville— 224; 11. Newport (Bellevue)— 289; 12. Lake Stevens— 289; 13. Juanita— 315; 14. Lake Washington— 342; 15. Eastlake— 366; 16. North Creek— 485; 17. Hazen— 510; 18. Mariner— 563; 19. Bothell— 575.

Area Individual Qualifiers: 1. Carter Corrigan (J)— 15:27.3; 3. Sebastian Gray (GP)— 15:44.3; 4. Jadon Cairus (A)— 15:46.4; 5. Jax Walker (K)— 15:47.1; 6. Brandon Smith (K)— 15:47.4; 8. Chase Koenigs (A)— 15:50.8; 11. Joshua Nguyen (A)— 15:53.0; 12. Blake Roberts (GP)— 15:54.6; 13. Luke Thompson (GP)— 15:55.3; 16. Logan Rusher (J)— 16:01.5; 23. Asher Yochum (J)— 16:09.6; 24. Brenden Roehl (A)— 16:10.6; 25. Colton Ramey (A)— 16:12.7; 26. Ryan Schilaty (Lake Stevens)— 16:13.1; 28. Andrew Lothyan (GP)— 16:13.7.

Area 2-Mile Ambulatory: 1. Ramon Little (A)— 11:44.8.

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