State Championships

Grant and Kirsten ran in the Washington State cross-country championships on November 8, 2014.  I flew to Pasco, Washington, to join Kyle, Lisa, Alyssa, and Bryce in watching them.  This is the third year in a row that Kirsten has qualified for the varsity championships, and she's only a junior!  The Eastlake High School varsity boys team, for which Grant is the captain, won the regional championships for the first time ever.  The region includes all of King County, the county Seattle is located in, as well as the northern islands, such as Whidbey and the San Juans.

Lisa's family and I arrived on Friday night and stayed at a Days Inn near the golf course the kids race on.  First thing after arriving at the race, Kyle bought sweatshirts for Grant and Kirsten.  He didn't want to take a chance on their being sold out.

Each high school brought a tent for its students to relax in before and after their races.  We enjoyed reading the sayings written on the tents.

We had time to wander around before the races started.  Kirsten found some roses to smell, and Lisa and I took the kids to the local mall to look for items for my Christmas table .  Alyssa and Bryce found lots of things to amuse themselves.

 We had big helpings of chowder, salad, and fried fish at Ivar's.

 Finally, it was time for Kirsten's race.  She didn't qualify for nationals, but she ran a good, fast race.

 The Eastlake Boys team hoped to place in the top five teams in the state.  Instead, they placed 10th and were very disappointed.  They got a fast start on the first race, but then the race was stopped and rerun, due to 20 or more runners colliding and falling.  Eastlake got a slow start the next time around.