By DAVID SVIEN

Special to the News-Times

Get ’em the big bus.

Coming off of an impressive performance Wednesday in the rain at Tri-Districts, the Coupeville High School cross country squad is sending 11 runners on to the state meet.

Wolf running guru Elizabeth Bitting will be taking four girls and seven boys to Pasco for the 2B championships, which are set for Saturday, Nov. 9.

That’s the most state meet qualifiers in one season since CHS revived its cross country program in 2017 after a two-decade layoff.

Coupeville is sending its entire boys’ team to state for the second time in as many seasons, while four Wolf girls made it through as individual qualifiers.

Conditions were wet, wet, wet at Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood as runners from Districts 1, 2, and 3 came together to battle for trail supremacy on a 5,000-meter course.

The top two boys’ teams and top three girls’ teams punched their state ticket as a group, and Coupeville almost got both of its groups through.

The boys, who placed five runners in the top 10, finished 2nd in the team standings, narrowly nipped 31-34 by Northwest 2B/1B League archrival Mount Vernon Christian for the crown.

Friday Harbor (68) was a distant third.

On the girls’ side, Pope John Paul II, led by defending state champ Ruby Henry, ran away with the team title, racking up just 30 points.

MVC (82) and Friday Harbor (84) also earned state berths, with Coupeville (98) notching fourth place in the team standings.

While the Wolf girls didn’t advance as a complete unit, the top 21 individual runners also earned state invitations, with freshman Devon Wyman literally nabbing the last spot by outsprinting a Friday Harbor rival by five seconds.

From Coupeville’s 11 state meet qualifiers, senior Carson Field will be making his third trip to the biggest run of the year.