Sammy Lloyd, a junior, raced at the state cross country meet Saturday.

PASCO — The state cross country meet was a learning experience for Nora Soule.

The Ilwaco High School sophomore had powered through the season, qualifying eighth in a competitive district to avoid the prior year’s heartbreak of not advancing.

She was reflective after her final race of the season, having finished 56th in 24:14.6.

“I am happy that I was able to come and get the experience,” she said. “I was hoping to run at least a 23:30, but I didn’t realize how hilly and how hard this course would be. But I think for the conditions I feel like I did OK.”

Soule was one of four Fishermen runners to qualify for the WIAA 1B/2B state championship race held Saturday at the rainswept Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

Her biggest disappointment was seeing familiar Southwest Washington runners ahead of her in the field of 79.

“I let my rivals beat me — the other girls in the district, they beat me — and that hasn’t happened all season until today,” she said. “I was very nervous at the beginning.” A fast start proved tiring later. “I sprinted all the hills and I should have powered up on the big hills to conserve energy,” Soule added.

Ilwaco’s cross country teams are coached by Sarah Taylor and Crystal Bell.

Bell commended Soule’s work this season. “Nora, coming in as a sophomore, she is still young and growing,” said the coach. “I think that she is learning to pace more, because she said she came out a little bit too strong in the first mile. So I think she is still learning.

“I think she is going to grow a lot in the next year, but she remains positive and remains a great leader on the team, even as a young athlete.”

The trio of IHS boys included senior Jacob Mathison, who features on the Fishermen track team in the 400 and 800 meters. He was Ilwaco’s lone cross country qualifier last year, finishing well down the pack after encountering difficulties with winds sweeping across the course.

This year, he was the highest-placing runner among Ilwaco and Naselle qualifiers, finishing 33rd in 18:08.1. There were 163 runners.

“It was fine,” he said. “It wasn’t windy at all this year. It was wet, but I had spikes on. I was comfortable.”

Bell commended his performance, running around a hilly circuit that wasn’t conducive to improving personal records.

“Jacob today ran a close-to-PR time on a non-PR course. His PR is 18:06 and he ran an 18:08, so he only was two seconds shy of his PR, on a rainy day and tough course,” she said. “That’s showing huge improvement.”

Two juniors ran for IHS, finishing about four seconds apart. Wyse Mulinix placed 129th in a time of 20:03.5 and Sammy Lloyd was 130th in 20:08.

“I didn’t feel that good this race,” Mulinix conceded, but he is eager to return. “I slipped midway through,” he said. Other runners ran on. “There were three, and I passed them,” he smiled.

Lloyd said qualifying was his achievement. “This year for me it was mostly about going to state, not doing well at state,” he said. “I think next year I am going to try to place above, but this year was mostly getting here.”

Bell was pleased with both, noting that Mulinix and Lloyd are among a cluster of underclassmen with promise.

“I think that our workout regimen this year was a little bit different and we are really able to push them a little bit more,” she said. “We incorporated more ‘hill days,’ and I think this paid off in the end, with higher-intensity workouts.

“Coming back from a couple of years that were really wonky with covid and everything, this is the first year that we were really able to do that, to really push them outside of their comfort zone. That was a huge difference. And because they are not very varied in their times, they can all run together and train together and work together on a regular basis.”