So close, but so far.
Since the turn of the decade, that had been the all-too-familiar sentiment for the Rainier High School girls cross country team on its way home from the state championship in Pasco. The girls always performed well, including back-to-back top-five finishes the last two years, but their names were always stamped behind the same teams: Pope John Paul II, Garfield-Palouse, St. George’s, and Liberty Bell.
This year, it was finally the Mountaineers’ turn to be the last team standing on the podium with the state trophy in hand. The Mountaineers won their first ever state championship Saturday, Nov. 9 to cap off the postseason triple crown in which they also won the league and district titles.
The Mountaineers weren’t just motivated to improve upon their previous finishes in Pasco and prove that they belonged with the top dogs at the 2B and 1B levels. They were on a mission to prove they were the top dog. Rainier, which scored 71 points, did so with a one-point victory over Pope John Paul II, 72 points.