UNIVERSITY PLACE — For the first time in four years, the girls cross country programs of North Thurston and River Ridge will both be represented at the state meet in Pasco.
North Thurston sophomore Lily Aardahl became the first Ram in three years to qualify for state with a 28th-place finish at 20 minutes, 57.1 seconds at the Westside Classic at Chambers Creek on Saturday, Oct. 31.
She’s also the first Rams underclassman to reach the state meet in eight years.
When Aardahl joined the North Thurston cross country team as a freshman last fall, she debuted at 29:49 and reached 25:11 by season’s end. But she’s taken her running to an entirely different tier this fall, as her slowest time this season is 21:27, and she’s hit sub-21 minutes in six of her eight races, including the Westside Classic.
“I’m so honored, and I’m so happy right now. It’s crazy,” Aardahl said. “My goal was to just make it to state, but it also was to try to hang with the pack and try to not slow down even when it got hard. I was trying to stick with somebody and pass someone else and keep that cycle going.”
Aardahl credited her consistency in her workouts this season to her leap in her sophomore season, which led to her being one of two area girls to qualify for state. Joining her will be River Ridge senior Rylea Moss, who notched a 32nd-place time of 21:01.8 to reach the state meet for the first time in her career.
Moss is the first River Ridge girls runner to qualify for state since 2022 and is only the second to do so this decade.
“It means a lot. It’s my last year, and it means that the season’s not quite over. I’m excited to continue,” she said.
Moss was projected to be a top-35 runner and qualify for state, but she knew she had to earn it. In the final stretch of the race, her teammates yelled at her to inform her of her place, knowing she couldn’t let many pass her. She was in a crowd at the finish line, but she emerged as one of the top-35 individuals to advance to Pasco.
“This wasn’t my best race mentally, and it wasn’t my best finish, but I was just trying to make sure that nobody passed me,” Moss said. “That way I still had my state spot. It definitely says a lot about how my mentality about running has changed.”
For the 3A boys race, the Capital Cougars qualified as a team with a fourth-place spot in the standings. Sophomore Quin Walz was the area’s top runner in 15th place at 16:22.3 to clinch his second state bid, and senior Jae Walz took 19th at 16:34.7. Junior Abram Montermini finished in 23rd at 16:42.3, junior Isaac Zwiefel’s time of 16:59.1 was enough for 37th, and junior Brad Crossen’s 39th-place run of 17:02.4 was a PR. Seniors Oliver Schrader (44th at 17:14.1) and George Southworth (45th at 17:16.3) will also join Capital in Pasco next week.
“Qualifying for the state championship, especially out of District 3, is a tremendous achievement that we never take for granted,” Capital head coach Michael Lunde said. “Our boys have worked so hard this year, but really for several years, to become a competitive team worthy of racing with the best teams in Washington. They have become a true team in every sense. They train hard, have fun together, and respect each other. That’s true throughout our entire 44-man roster.”
Outside of Capital, the lone area state qualifier in the boys race was North Thurston senior Landen Krom, who punched his ticket to state for the second year in a row with a 34th-place time of 16:53.9.
The state meet will be held at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday, Nov. 7.
