Ilwaco boys cross country team placed seventh at the WIAA state championship meet in Pasco on Saturday. Back row, left to right, are Coach Sarah Taylor, Brendan Chabot (alternate) Tristan Trudell, Colton McNabb, Brady Rasmussen and Logan Simonson. Front row, left to right, Griffen Cutting (alternate), Logan Roush, Daniel Whiting and Daniel Quintana.

PASCO — Daniel Quintana became Ilwaco’s first state champion in cross country in 27 years. The sophomore won by four seconds in the 1B/2B state championship at Sun Willows Golf Club in Pasco Saturday, Nov. 9. Estella Sheldon and Alex Carper led Ilwaco’s girls team to a sixth-place finish, while the boys, led by Quintana and Daniel Whiting, placed seventh.

The Sun Willows Golf Club course takes three loops around the fairways and fenced-off greens and ends with a curving, bumpy downhill stretch to the finish.

“I started pretty well, letting the others lead,” Quintana said.

At the first turn, he was in fourth or fifth in a pack of eight frontrunners. By the second turn, it seemed a three or four-man race with two runners slightly ahead of Quintana.

“In the third mile, I was feeling confident. I had a lot of energy,” Quintana said.

On the home stretch over the final hill, Quintana was in second.

“I had energy in me, I just kicked it…I started sprinting the last one or two hundred meters,” Quintana said. “I thought (second-place finisher Justin Peck) was right behind me, but it turned out I was four seconds ahead.”

Quintana, Ilwaco’s first champion since Ernie Ammons in 1992, finished in 15:55.8. Justin Peck of Trout Lake, whom Quintana credited with pushing him the whole way, had a personal-best 15:59.8 for second. Kobe Deutscher of Pope John Paul II was third at 16:05.8. Noah Phillips, whom Quintana edged at the finish line at Districts, took fourth at 16:10.7; he was one of three runners for team champ Northwest Christian to finish in the top nine.

Sheldon reached the podium, closing out her career with a 13th-place mark of 20:40.1. Life Christian sophomore Gabby Martin won the girls’ race by an enormous margin of 1:27, finishing in 17:57.5.

“It’s a difficult course, so I was pleased to be 13th because that’s seven places higher than I was ranked,” Sheldon said.

Whiting, another senior, reached the podium after just missing it the previous year. Whiting took 15th with a 16:51.3 run.

“Having three individuals on the podium was something we haven’t had happen in a while,” coach Sarah Taylor said.

Carper also finished her career in peak form. After taking 30th at Districts, she was 20th in the state Saturday with a season-best 21:01.9. Carper and Sheldon both had State finishes in the 30s and 40s the previous two years.

Emma Brundage placed 31st at 21:26.2, continuing her late-sophomore season surge. Tristan Trudell was 36th at 17:25.

Tazlina Thomas (22:38), Nisa Mendoza (23:32.2), Kaytlenn Whelden (23:50.5) and Daniela Mendez (25:28.5) contributed for the girls’ team. Colton McNabb (18:31.7), Logan Simonson (18:47.6), Brady Rasmussen (19:06.7) and Logan Roush (19:55.1) ran for the boys.

— Patrick Webb contributed to this story.