Union-Bulletin

PASCO - Waitsburg-Prescott's Seth Deal overcame a severe case of the flu to place 16th in a field of 139 runners here Saturday at the Class 1B/2B state cross country championships at cool and breezy Sun Willows Golf Course.

Deal, who placed fourth at state as a sophomore, struggled to keep running throughout the 5,000-meter race, but managed a time of 17:08.

"He got sick, very sick during the race and most runners would have quit," W-P coach Joanna Lanning. "It is a testitominal to his mental strength that he even finished the race. He is a hero in my book."

The second W-P runner at state was E.J. Meserve, who finished 58th with a time of 18:41.

"I was really proud of both of our runners," Lanning said, "They both did well."

Pomeroy had six competitors. Two of them placed in the top 85 - Brayan McGreevy (82nd, 19:09) and Riley Bott (85th, 19:16).

Other Pirate contestants were Colsen Mayfield (113th, 20:28), Stevie Fletcher (119th, 21:05), Michael Wade (132nd, 22:26) and Tyler King (137th, 22:46).

"A lot of our runners had personal records," Pomeroy coach Marcus Pederson said.

"In any race, it is always a runners' goal to get a P.R.," Wade, a team captain, said.

"It was a perfect day for a run. The kids ran hard," Pederson said. "I'm very happy about that. Each race this season the kids have gotten better and better. I was really proud of all my runners."