2003 Snohomish High School
Girls’ Cross Country

To say the Snohomish High School girls cross country team was dominant in 2003 would be an understatement. As Bob Mikulich, a former cross country coach at Kenmore Jr. High and Inglemoor and Bothell high schools from 1975-1995 stated, Snohomish was “loaded with talent”.

The Panthers finished second in 2000, fifth in 2001 and first in 2002 at the 4A state meets, but 2003 was a unique year.

The beginning of the season began with a 50-team meet at the New Balance Invitational in Portland, Oregon, where Snohomish won with 58 points, outrunning the second-place team by 82 points. A week later, the Panthers finished runner-up by four points to a No. 3 nationally-ranked Sultana, California, team at the Iolani Invitational in Hawaii. And during the third week of competition, Snohomish, out of 51 teams won the Bellevue Invitational by 33 points, despite competing without their fastest runner.

This stretch of top finishes continued in Yakima a week later at the 60-team Sunfair Invitational where the Panthers outran highly-ranked teams from the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, Canada. Snohomish’s largest multi-team competition took place in Bend, Oregon, at the 35-team Lava Bear Invitational, and the Panthers once again placed first with a 50-point buffer.

In the post season, Snohomish claimed the Wesco 4A league title with 22 points and had five runners place in the top seven. A week later at the Northwest District Championship, the Panthers took first with 27 points and featured five runners in the top 12. The team saved their best running for the final competition of the season and compiled a state record of 31 points, topping the second-place school by 54 points, in addition to claiming the first-place trophy. Senior Lucy Miller finished seventh, junior Alyssa Modrell eighth, sophomore Amanda Stopa 10th, freshman Kara Sporrong 11th and senior Ashley Meyer 13th. All five runners were also separated by 18 seconds.

Overall, the team finished 2003 ranked No. 6 in the nation. Had the Nike Cross Nationals, the ultimate high school cross country meet in the U.S. been held in 2003 rather than 2004, Snohomish would have received an automatic berth as the No. 1-ranked team out of the Northwest region, which included Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.

The depth of the team was so extreme in 2003 that seven runners finished in the top nine at the 19-team Wesco Junior Varsity Championship. The Panthers took home a first-place trophy and tallied 17 points, beating out the second-place team by 50 points.

GALLERY