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By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter 

ML cross country repeats as state 1A champs

Cardinals back coach's prediction with dominating performance; win state 1A track title, too

 

Last updated 12/31/2014 at 3:07pm

Medical Lake's Domenic Rehm proudly hoists the first-place trophy the Cardinals earned Nov. 8 in Pasco after winning the state 1A cross country championship. Medical Lake easily defended the title they first won in 2013, defeating Kings 53-80.

Even before his team hit the different courses of competition, Medical Lake's veteran cross country coach Gene Blankenship predicted his team would successfully defend its 2013 state 1A cross country title.

That turned heads, and apparently got him in a bit of trouble for being so bold. So did the team shirts with the oh so politically incorrect targets on the back.

But when you can walk the walk after talking the talk, what can any detractors say?

"We're going to repeat as state 1A champions," Blankenship said this past August. They did just that, but even in more convincing fashion, beating Kings High of Seattle, 53-80.

"We won pretty easily, actually," Blankenship said. "We scored 70 points last year, this year we scored 53."

Winning cross country teams - like golfers - win by scoring the least points.

His predictions also suggested, "We might have as high as four kids in the top 16." The Cardinals bettered that with four in the top-15, Nov. 8 in Pasco.

Senior Domenic Rehm finished fourth overall in a time of 15 minutes, 56 seconds, 19 seconds back of winner Ryan Clark of Port Townsend and was the Cardinals' top individual. Micah Dingfield "ran really good," Blankenship said. He was eighth overall at 16:29.

Sneaking into the top-three for ML runners was freshman Mason Williams, an effort Blankenship called "our best race." He was 11th overall in a time of 16:41. Micah Dingfield's brother, Jacob, was 15th at 16:47, still hampered a bit by a calf injury.

The Cardinals placed two in the top-10, four runners in the top-15 and five in the top-20. Junior Noah Kroeze rounded out the top-5 for the Cardinals with a time of 16:55 in 19th place.

And as an exclamation point, Mariah Pena became the first-ever Medical Lake girl to medal at state, finishing, 12th in a time of 19:50. A top-16 finish is required to earn a medal.

Another successful August prediction was how Blankenship said the Northeast A boys' standings at season's end would read: Medical Lake, Deer Park, Riverside and Lakeside. Take that one to Vegas, too.

All of this with the addition of former 2A power, Deer Park, joining the NEA.

At state, Rehm had an individual goal that fell short, but in the end he took one for the team. "Domenic tried to win the race," Blankenship said. "He was in it up to about 2.5 miles, then three guys got away from him."

Rehm told Blankenship he just didn't have any more in him. "He threw in surges, he did all kinds of things to draw in people," Blankenship said. "He was really trying to get first place."

"He wasn't all that happy with how he finished," Blankenship said of Rehm, "But we came there to win and that's what the team did."

The road to state was paved with one impressive finish after another beginning Sept. 13 with a win in their division of the Super One Invitational in Hayden, Idaho where the Cards got a preview of NEA competition, outscoring Riverside 36-46 with Deer Park third with 59.

That same day at the Highlander Invite in Spokane at Shadle Park High School, Williams topped 138 freshmen runners, showing the bright future of the program after losing Rehm and Micah Dingfield to graduation in 2015.

A week later at Wenatchee the Cards were second in a field of 4A and 3A schools. They were sixth in the prestigious Nike Pre-Nationals in Portland, Ore., a meet that attracted some of the best teams in the West. They were runners-up at the Curtis Invite in Tacoma, another event with big schools.

Then came the breeze through the NEA league meets, even in the big showdown with Deer Park - on their course - where Medical Lake emerged with a 24-31 win as Rehm, Micah and Jacob Dingfield all crossed the finish line in a pack separated by one second.

The Cardinals were even more dominant at the 1A District 7 race, topping the Stags 23-47 with four runners placing in the top-6.

"It's a big thing for us, back-to-back championships," Blankenship said. "I guess the target on the back of the T-shirt actually helped out."

And all of this cross country success came six months after Medical Lake won the state 1A track and field title.

That one, staged at Roos Field at Eastern Washignton University, was a surprise to Blankenship who watched as the Dingfield brothers - Jacob and Micah - placed thrid and sixth in the 3,200 meter run and delivered a 50-48 team win over Zillah.

"I never got a sense for it, the kids kept coming back and telling me where we were," Blankenship said. "The kids would come by and say, 'Hey Gene, we're tied for first.'"

It was a nailbiter and a calculator's nightmare.

"A couple of times there in the 32 it looked like we were going to fold, but in that last half mile Jacob and Micah came on like gangbusters to give us that three, six (finish)," Blankenship said. "At that point in time, unless someone made a mistake we were pretty sure we were going to win it."

Blankenship's next predictions will come in early March, prior to track season.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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