SEQUIM — Nick Shindler did all he could to reel in Matthew Lutz.
In the end, however, the Port Angeles senior fell just a few seconds short of his Olympic counterpart. So too, did his Roughriders.
Led by Lutz’ first-place finish just ahead of Shindler, Olympic eclipsed Port Angeles by the narrowest of margins to win the boys team title at the Olympic League Championship cross country meet Thursday.
The Trojans finished one point in front of the Riders at 57-58 in claiming the league crown, needing every bit of Lutz’ energy up front on a balmy afternoon at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course.
“I can’t respond too much happy or sad because of one point,” Port Angeles boys coach Pat Durr said.
“The final score doesn’t determine how well we ran. The times determine how we ran, and we ran great. It just so happens that Olympic ran real great, too.”
Kingston’s Marina Roberts did her regular routine in the girls race, setting a new course record on the way to her second straight Olympic League title.
The Buccaneer senior finished the relatively flat 5-kilometer track in a time of 17 minutes, 33 seconds, more than a half minute better than her older sister Ruby’s 2007 mark of 18:07.
Part of the credit had to go to North Kitsap’s Reagan Colyer, however, who took second in 17:59 and pushed Marina much of the race before eventually fading out of sight in the final mile.
Marina’s finish, along with her younger sister Annie’s third-place showing, helped boost the 10th-ranked Buccaneers to the team title in the girls race with 36 points.
That was three points ahead of fourth-ranked North Kitsap in second (39).
“It was pretty tough,” Marina said. “Reagan, I was thinking about her the whole time. She’s pretty strong.”
The event served not just as a league championship — excluding Class 3A school Bremerton — but also as a sub-district eliminator for the Olympic’s seven 2A schools.
Only the top 20 2A runners and top four 2A teams in each race advanced to next week’s Westside Classic at American Lake Golf Course in Tacoma.
While both the Port Angeles boys and girls ended up moving on — the latter with a third-place finish — Sequim had to settle for only one of its teams advancing, its girls.
The 1A Port Townsend/Chimacum squads ran for pride only, with Redskins junior Brittany Grant posting the area’s top time in the girls race with a sixth-place mark of 19:54.
“I came into the race thinking I’m just going to race for myself,” said Grant, whose Redskins advance to next week’s 1A district races by default. “I was hoping to break 20 [minutes] again, and I did.”
Added Grant, “I’d love it for our girls team to get to state. It would be great to have the whole camaraderie of the team going to such a big meet.”
Boys race
The best drama of the day came in the boys race where Shindler and Lutz faced off in a back-and-forth duel.
The two seniors exchanged the lead a couple of times before Lutz finally pulled away in the last half mile and crossed the finish line in 15:53.
Shindler was less than 100 yards behind with his own sub 16-minute time of 15:59.
“He was running with me and I tried to ditch him and he wouldn’t let me go. It was like that the whole time,” said Lutz, aiming for a top-25 finish at 2A state.
“I went as hard as I could, and I was able to out-kick him.
“I feel great. I just won league. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
The Trojans had four runners finish in the top 15, while the Riders had five in the top 18, including an eighth-place mark from Michael Ahrens (16:26).
Three other Riders finished under 17 minutes.
“That’s tremendous,” Durr said. “We should do quite well at districts.
“The good competition that we got out of Olympic, both of our teams really improved, and it shows.”
Indeed, Lutz and Shindler pushed each other to the brink in fighting over the boys’ individual crown.
And ultimately it took Lutz’ first-place finish to put the Trojans over the top.
“It was a great race,” Shindler said. “I was just trying to hang with him because I’ve been just behind him all season, but I just couldn’t keep up with his surging.”
Adrian Clifford qualified for districts with a fifth-place time of 16:20 as Sequim’s top runner.
Freshman teammate Mike Cobb was also able to move on with a 17th-place finish, but that wasn’t enough to put the Sequim boys into the Westside classic after it placed fifth among the 2As.
“They raced great, they put up some spectacular times,” Sequim coach Harold Huff said. “That’s as good as we could have done. There’s just really strong teams this year.”
The Port Townsend/Chimacum boys took seventh as a team, led by Xavier Frank’s dramatic seventh-place showing that saw him chase down Ahrens yards before the finish line.
“I just thought it’s near the end of the season, I’ll just give it all I got,” Frank said.
Girls race
There was no need for such theatrics in the girls race.
Instead, Marina Roberts did what she’s done all season in dominating the field for her ninth meet victory this fall.
It’s no wonder the University of Utah, which she will visit this weekend, is showing interest in her as a Division I long distance runner. Her sister, Ruby, runs for Washington State.
“I met the coach and he’s been talking about it,” Marina said.
“I think it would be good. They are in the Pac-12, and I could race my sister.”
While Grant was the area’s top individual runner among the girls, the Riders were the Peninsula’s best female team with a third-place finish.
The Port Angeles girls pack had four girls finish in the top 20, with Elizabeth Stevenson’s ninth-place effort leading the way.
While that wasn’t enough to finish anywhere near state-ranked Kingston and North Kitsap, it was 63 points ahead of the next-best 2A school — Sequim.
“They performed pretty well,” Port Angeles girls coach Kelsey Kenck said. “Everyone ran under 22 minutes, which is great.
“We made districts, and as a team the goal is more to work hard and see where we end up at this point.
“The girls want to go to state, but we’ll see what happens.”
The Wolves qualified for districts in the fourth 2A spot despite finishing behind 1A Port Townsend.
Jasmine McMullin had the team’ best finish with a 12th-place time of 20:49.