The recurring thought of the long drive home, the silence, the end, haunts me often. I dread the moment, but I also know it's a privilege. What I get to do is an honor, and loading my gear after a day of championship cross country is heavy, but rewarding.
Driving away from the day that unfolded will be the toughest part, just as it was last November, when I shut the car door in the Sun Willows lot and the silence hit me.
Saturday is the last high school cross country race for a class of seniors I've been shooting since they were freshmen. I get to drive home. They don't get to come back. That's part of what makes the car quiet.
I look forward to the next few weeks, with NXR and NXN on the horizon, but nothing compares to state.
The class of 2027 · The class of 2029
The seniors are leaving. The sophomores are already running the front.
Seniors (class of 2027) in the statewide top 50
Sophomores (class of 2029) in the statewide top 50
Miro Parr-Coffin (#1 in 4A boys), Quenton Lanese and Jaycee Jenkins (#2 in 4A girls) are all class of 2029. The class of 2030 is arriving too: Dahlia Zener, Glacier Peak, is the #1 freshman girl at 17:47.4.
Track the Class of 2029 on Project 29 →Hand-counted from the statewide top-50 marks list as of Oct 28. Bars are out of 50.
What the stats can't see
Jena Winger walks campers through mental mantras and what the week ahead holds at Cascadia Running Camp. This is the off-season work no one sees.
The beautiful thing about cross country is that changes happen in the off-season when no one is looking. It's all off the record. When an athlete hits a new personal best in training, it's often hidden behind a private Strava account or a private team chat, leaving me to speculate.
The most obvious place to start is the raw stats, but everyone can do that. What I have to do as a photographer and journalist is dig into my memory banks, the races I've covered and the results throughout the season, and compare apples to oranges while giving credit where credit is due. Every number lives on the State Championships page.
The scorecard
The scorecard · my August calls, graded
Three predictions, on the record.
- COlympia boysCalled them a top 4A team. They took the last qualifying spot.
- BQuenton Lanese“The Guy to Beat.” Fourth on the board. Saturday decides.
- COlympia girlsThe favorites talk missed. The Bears–Issaquah call is still open.
Every call is graded on what I actually wrote in August, not on what I'd like to remember. A call that Saturday hasn't settled stays open.
I put predictions in print in August, so I owe you the score in November. Anyone can preview a race. Fewer people will show you their work. Some of my predictions landed; some did not. That's okay. I'm willing to put my perception out there, but I can't control the result.
Olympia boys: C
What I wrote (Aug 30): they'd be “one of the top 4A teams in the state and no one is looking.”
Bryce Byers of Olympia digs into his final kick at the Westside Classic District Championships.
The Olympia boys looked like they had a shot at making waves after a strong 2025 behind then-freshman Quenton Lanese. As the 2026 season progressed, I kept wondering whether they'd ever hit a high note. They did, in their final act at the Westside Classic District Championships, where they barely got in as the seventh and last 4A team to advance, placing 7th overall, on a day when their #2 runner, Quin Zola, had an off day. The Bears will certainly be looking forward to the trip to Pasco to try their hand against the state's best.
Quenton Lanese: B
What I wrote: “the Guy to Beat” (Aug 12 headline); “undisputed king” (Aug 30).
Quenton Lanese moments after crossing the line at the SPSL 4A League Championships, with the second- and third-place runners shaking hands behind him.
The board says I'm wrong. As of Oct 31, Lanese sits fourth in 4A at 14:54.7, behind Parr-Coffin (14:28.4), Franklin (14:33.5) and Compton (14:51.9). The four names I flagged in August are the top four on the board, just not in the order I had them.
Here's why I still believe it. Outside of the Fort Steilacoom Invitational on Sept 19, I haven't seen anyone push Lanese this season. He's run. He's won. He hasn't been emptied. There's a gear I saw at Fort Steilacoom that nobody has made him use since.
And he has run this course. Last November, as a freshman, Lanese finished second at Sun Willows in 15:05.4, eleven seconds ahead of Parr-Coffin, who was fifth. Same course, same day, head to head.
Miro Parr-Coffin of Gonzaga Prep finishing at the 2025 WIAA State Championships in Pasco.
Parr-Coffin is the opposite kind of unknown. I photographed him at State last November, and the last time I watched him compete was the state track championships in May 2026. The résumé is serious: he raced cross country in 2025, track in 2026 and cross country again this fall, he was fifth at State last November, and he's a 4A state wrestling champion at 106 pounds. He's an all-rounder whose engine is built in more than one sport. His 14:28.4 came at the Bob Firman Invitational, the one race all season where he and Lanese could have shared a start line. Lanese didn't run it.
Fast courses produce fast times. It's easy to spot the favorable courses when you look at the rankings, and State Watch flags the Mook marks with an asterisk for a reason. Bob Firman produced some of the fastest times of the season too, without a flag. I won't discredit the athletes who ran them. The times are what they are, and even on a fast course the athlete still has to have the turnover to make it happen. But asterisks don't settle anything. Saturday does. The guy I called the king and the guy with the fastest 4A time haven't raced this season. Now they do. And my standing speculation holds: when you pair the fastest with the fastest, you get faster.
Olympia girls: C (one claim still open)
What I wrote: “ranked as the #1 4A team in the state by many sources” (Aug 30); “sure to head into the season as favorites or at least one of the top teams” (Nov 2025); Hennen “coming for the crown” (Nov 2025); “the battle between the Bears and Issaquah is one to watch heading into 2026” (Aug).
Gemma Stevick of Olympia racing at the Westside Classic District Championships.
The Lady Bears have had a tough season. I expected the Bears to come out swinging and put up big times all season, but that simply has not been the case. From the outside looking in, I still think Leah Hennen is one of the state's best athletes. She sat out Olympia's League Championship and finished 10th at districts (18:56.1), well off her 18:03.3 personal best.
The biggest hurdle was how much the 4A girls landscape changed over the summer (more on that below), but the Bears came out on top at the Westside Classic District Championships, beating Tahoma, Curtis and Camas. Heading into state week with a strong showing at districts is the momentum they need.
The favorites talk aged poorly, and Hennen's crown hasn’t arrived. The Bears–Issaquah race I called in August is still open, and Saturday settles it.
Being wrong about the Bears in August is exactly why I trust what I'm seeing now. The work that mattered happened where neither the rankings nor I could see it.
The season in two more threads
A late return
Mana Voss of Central Kitsap running at the Westside Classic District Championships.
The 2026 season has been full of surprises, including the late-season return of Central Kitsap's Mana Voss. Just ahead of the league championship, he announced his commitment to the Oregon Ducks.
Freshmen
Elijah Teeples of Kamiakin in the lead pack at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational.
Freshmen have stepped into the spotlight like they've been doing this for four years. Kamiakin's Elijah Teeples and Glacier Peak's Dahlia Zener, the #1 freshman, are prime examples of athletes who arrived ready to make a name for themselves.
What to watch Saturday
Saturday’s races I’m watching heavily: 3A girls at 1:00, 4A girls at 1:30, 3A boys at 2:30 and 4A boys at 3:00. The full Race Day schedule is here.
4A girls
Sophia Rodriguez of Mt. Si breaks the tape at the Nike Portland XC Invitational.
Gap to the leader · 4A girls top 10
Three up front. Then a pack.
Season-best 5Ks, State Watch as of Oct 31. Bar length = seconds behind Rodriguez. * Mook XC Invite mark (fast course).
Sophia Rodriguez, Jaycee Jenkins, Aubrey Wilems, Callie Orcutt, Dahlia Zener, Ryan Mclellan, Triniti Ramos, Jett Hansen, Ella Haber, Lucy Fraser: the 4A girls top 10 is absolutely stacked. Looking further down the list, it's impressive time after impressive time. The 4A girls race is going to be something to tune into, and I believe it will be more competitive than some might think.
A few of those names I know mostly by their times: Triniti Ramos (Ferris), Jett Hansen (Richland) and Ella Haber (Lincoln, Seattle). They're worth mentioning, and the times are the times, but I can't tell you the story behind them the way I can with Olympia or Voss. That's me being honest about what I can see.
Sophia Rodriguez owned the 3A girls for three years straight, winning state in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and returns hoping to capture a fourth XC state championship in a new classification and a new uniform, but she won't have an easy day. Can Rodriguez fend off this pool of talent? If she can't, who can beat her?
Four-peat watch · Sophia Rodriguez
Last year's winning time has already been beaten three times this season.
Last year's State winning time, 17:24.0 · shorter bar = faster
Her State titles · Mercer Island, 3A
2026 season bests · 4A
State times from WIAA 3A girls results, 2023–2025. Different courses. * Mook XC Invite mark (fast course).
Mt. Si received the state's fastest girl in Rodriguez, who has helped propel them into the state championship talk. She has great runners behind her, and now they have the low stick they needed to make it all work. Mt. Si places three girls in the top 11, and that's where things get interesting. Their #4 and #5 runners are likely to feel that pressure, as they are going to be looked at to have a big day.
Issaquah’s Emma Wurster (#242), Adara Jacobsen (#239) and Georgia Greene (#238) race together at the HOKA John Payne Invitational.
Issaquah is the team to beat. Freshman London Dominick has assumed the role of fastest on the team, sitting 20th in 4A, and Issaquah places four runners in the 4A top 50, making the case that defending the state title is theirs if they have a good day. They will have to work for it.
Jaya Holt of Glacier Peak at the Nike Twilight Invitational in Everett.
Will Glacier Peak play the role of upset this season, and if not, where will they land? They've had a great year, with Zener and Jaya Holt leading the way.
Just like in 2025, Olympia has found a way to move runners around like chess pieces. Last year it was Leah Hennen and Sydney Kosa acting as the one-two punch, swapping order several times during the season. This year, Carolina Schilter came to the rescue, finishing 2nd at districts with a big PR of 18:41.1. Seven seconds as a senior on that course is a big step up, and Chambers is not a fast course. Seven seconds is the difference between the top 5 and outside the top 10 in the state. The senior will need to bring that same level of competitiveness to Pasco. If Hennen runs the way she is capable, that’s when the Bears become dangerous. Sophomore Gemma Stevick has played the role of the #3 runner just about all season, and her consistency is what I consider the foundational point of the team. She isn't outspoken, but sometimes actions speak louder than words.
The Olympia girls are mostly sophomores who competed in Pasco last year as a quiet underdog and finished second, 15 points behind Issaquah. They lined up that day with, as far as I could tell, each other’s names written on their hands: Kosa, Hennen, Stevick, Schilter, Johnson, Barr and Caitlin Lanese, Quenton’s twin sister. Kosa and Barr have graduated, but Hennen, Schilter, Stevick, Johnson and Caitlin Lanese all ran that race. They’ll start Saturday as a veteran team with the talent to create some drama, but the bond from last year has to carry over. That’s their secret weapon.
As the season progressed, the Bears continued to find ways to hang around and remain consistent. I truly believe Olympia could have a big day in Pasco and turn heads, just like they did in 2025. The fact that they are just now hitting their stride is a good sign if it continues at Sun Willows.
4A boys
Mead’s Stejer Franklin runs stride for stride with Olympia’s Quenton Lanese at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational.
Fastest 5K marks · 4A boys, plus the fastest 3A
Four names, 26 seconds, one start line.
On paper, Lanese sits 26.3 seconds behind Parr-Coffin. At State last November, on this same course, he finished 11 seconds ahead of him.
Open the 4A boys board on State Watch →Season-best 5Ks, State Watch as of Oct 31. Different courses; Bob Firman is a fast one.
Camas’ Cohen Butler won this race last November in 14:47.9 and has since graduated, leaving the 4A crown vacant. Four of last year’s top six, Lanese, Compton, Parr-Coffin and Franklin, are back to fight for it.
Gonzaga Prep’s Miro Parr-Coffin is having an incredible season. His freshman season saw him sitting atop the rankings for part of the season, and he has assumed that spot again. Parr-Coffin has the fastest 4A time on paper, but a massive list of athletes trailing him may have something to say about that next week. He ran a 14:28.4 at the Nike Bob Firman Invitational (Sep 26), giving him a 5-second gap on the #2, Mead’s Stejer Franklin.
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43A boys: The Rematch
Mana Voss of Central Kitsap and Leroy Lozano Mejia of Hermiston in the final stretch at State last November. Voss won by 1.2 seconds.
In 2025, Mejia got into a drag race with Central Kitsap's Mana Voss over the final 100 meters, with Voss finally pulling away to win by 1.2 seconds. It was the race of the day. Mejia's résumé is relentless: back-to-back league and district championships in 2025 and 2026, second at state, 16th at Nike Cross Regionals, and fourth in the 3200 at the state track championships. He just ran 14:22.3 at Hermiston's district championships, giving him the top 3A spot with room to breathe, though reviewing the 3A board, a lot of big times came out of that same championship meet.
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15Voss is returning after a full season of physical therapy to get himself back to full speed. Since his return at the league championships, he has continued to cruise to victory on both occasions.
Shadle Park’s Becks Bird racing at the WIAA State Championships last November.
There's no doubt this will be a matchup to watch, but there is great depth heading to Pasco, with Elijah Graves (Shorewood), Becks Bird (Shadle Park), Sammy Connell (Inglemoor), Elliot Yegge (North Central) and Gatlin Michaelsen (Mt. Spokane) all hanging around the top six, waiting for a chance to claim their spot.
Bishop Blanchet’s William Knox at the Sea-King District Championships, which he won.
Once you get outside the top 10, there are a couple of interesting athletes to follow: Bishop Blanchet's William Knox and Seattle Prep's Henry Herb. Knox just won the Sea-King district championship in a very deep field. These two will have a few extra days of recovery before state, as they ran districts on Thursday.
Saturday evening I'll load my gear in the Sun Willows lot, shut the door, and let the silence in. This time it won't be empty. It'll have answers in it. We'll all find out in real time, and then I'll drive home.
