Seniors John Rodeheffer and Jonalynn Horn made Oak Harbor High School cross country history with their performances at the state 3A meet at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco Saturday, Nov. 8.
Rodeheffer finished fourth, tying for the best finish ever by a Wildcat boy in the state meet and earning the best spot in nearly 50 years.
Gary Lineburg also placed fourth in 1965.
Coupeville’s Tyler King ran for Oak Harbor during the 2010 regular season because Coupeville does not have a cross country team, but represented Coupeville in the state meet and finished first.
Horn ran 12th, and coupled with her eighth-place finish last year, is the only Oak Harbor girl to record two top-12 finishes at state.
Sophomore Laura Rodeheffer, John’s sister, also took part, placing 131st out of 144 in 21:59.39.
John Rodeheffer, who placed 11th last year, ran a 15:15.39 over the 5,000-meter course in what turned out to be the day’s fastest race.
Tanner Anderson of North Central won the 3A boys race out of a field of 143 in 14:31.7. Rodeheffer’s time would have won the B, 1A and 2A races and would have been just .19 of a second out of first in the 4A race.
Horn posted an 18:57.32. She finished three spots ahead of Glacier Peak’s Heidi Smith, the only girl to beat her in last week’s district meet, but placed behind three girls she topped at district.
Lakeside’s Andrea Masterson was the girls 3A individual champion in 17:40.9.
North Central won the boys team title; Wesco’s Arlington placed fourth.
In the girls race, Holy Names won, followed by two Wesco teams, Mountlake Terrace and Glacier Peak.
“Overall, we are really happy with how the kids ran in Pasco,” Oak Harbor head coach Eric Peterson said. “John dropped another 15 seconds off his time and ran a great PR.”
Peterson said they knew the 3A winner would most likely run the fastest time of the day, and that Rodeheffer “started the race with a plan and stuck to it.”
“He really showed a lot of patience and maturity and had a great day,” Peterson added.
In the girls race, Horn and Laura Rodeheffer both “ran well,” Peterson said.
“Jonalynn had some goals on the day and she was able to achieve them, running a tough race and coming from behind in the second mile (at one point she had fallen to 15th),” Peterson said.
“Laura, who we were happy with qualifying for the state meet as a sophomore,” he said, “extended her season with a good run.”
John Rodeheffer and Horn also earned invitations to compete in BorderClash 2014, a meet pitting the best high school runners from Washington against those from Oregon, Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Nike World Campus in Beaverton, Ore.
(Jonalynn Horn receives her 12th-place medal at state. She is the only Oak Harbor High School girl to finish in the top 12 twice at state. Photo by Pat Horn.)
