Royal boys finish 10th and girls take 13th at state cross country

ROYAL CITY - Another successful season of cross country at Royal High School ended at the state meet in Pasco Saturday with Knight leader Marcos Quiroz earning all-state honors.

Quiroz took 11th place individually and led the team to 10th place. The girls improved two spots from last year, finishing 13th.

In addition, Royal received news that it dominated the SCAC all-league teams. Quiroz, Nathan Purdue, Riley Lefler, Meghan Mianecki and Caitlin Diaz were named to the first teams.

J.J. Jimenez, Victor Garcia, Anahi Gomez and Brea Diaz made the second teams. The honorable mention lists included Salvador Horta and Cliff Lester

"The State cross country meet is truly an impressive spectacle of running," coach Ben Orth said. "Not only are the 1A schools competing, but so are all the other divisions, including 4A. It is really an exciting day of racing."

The 1A girls race probably had the best weather, with temperatures in the mid 50s and a very slight breeze. This was the second straight trip to state for the girls team.

"Across the board we ran better than a year ago," coach Lyndsy Roberts said.

Last year, Royal finished 15th. This year, the Knights moved up two spots to 13th. Favorite Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls won the team championship.

"Overall, we were very satisfied with how our girls ran," Roberts said.

Leading the way was Meghan Mianecki in 67th with at time of 21:32.

"Meghan really ran hard," Roberts said.

Mianecki was only 20 seconds off the school record at state, set by Cara Wieldraayer with a time of 21:12 in 2008.

The other scorers for the Knights were Caitlin Diaz (79th, 21:53), Brea Diaz (96th, 22:15), Anahi Gomez (100th, 22:21) and Carina Moreno (118th, 23:27).

With four of these girls returning, the Royal team should enjoy added success at the league, district and state levels next year.

By the time the 1A boys race began, the wind chill had dipped slightly. But that didn't stop the Royal boys from running with determination.

In a very competitive field, the Knights ended up in 10th place with 231 team points. Medical Lake's strong front pack helped its squad secure the team title with 72 points.

"This makes it back-to-back top 10 finishes for our team at the State Championships," Orth noted. "Although I think we were capable of placing a couple of spots higher, all and all, our guys ran really well. No doubt we were faster than a year ago. It was just a very competitive field this year."

One of the highlights of the day was senior Marcos Quiroz running the best race of his life. He placed 11th overall (16:37) in a field of 144 state runners and, in doing so, became an All-State runner.

"In addition to our team goals, one of our biggest goals was to help Marcos place at State," Orth exclaimed. "I'm so incredibly proud of how hard Marcos worked these past four years to make this dream a reality. When you think about how difficult it is to place, it really puts his accomplishment in perspective."

Other scorers for the Knights were Riley "Buff-Man" Lefler (61st, 17:35), J.J. Jimenez (66th, 17:41), Nathan Perdue (84th, 17:56) and Salvador Horta (106th, 18:12).

The Royal boys team also returns four of its state runners next year.

"It was truly a marvelous year, from start to finish, working with our boys and girls teams," Orth said. "I'm so pleased with how hard they worked and, more importantly, how they cared about each other. I can't thank our seniors enough for their tremendous attitudes and leadership."