Another Gary Paulson photo, this time of Alexa Efraimson nearing the finish line.

I just spoke to Tanner Anderson and will have a story up later.

But a day later he is still trying to process beating Joe Hardy and breaking the state meet record.

"I never thought I'd be close enough or in position to beat Joe Hardy. I'm overjoyed. I never expected it."

That said, Anderson may have turned over a new leaf in his racing career by having the confidence to be aggressive and go for the win. In a season where his buddy and training partner Kai Wilmot had to cut a few workouts short to manage injuries, Anderson pressed on, kept getting better, and broke a North Central interval workout record.

And he's only a junior.

Maybe we're looking at the emergence of the best Washington XC runner since Matthew Davis.

Awesome picture of the final battle!

Thanks for sharing

A Gary Paulson photo:

Boys Power Merge -

• 69 - Gig Harbor - 4A#1 - 76:58.89
  
• 86 - North Central - 3A#1 - 77:24.77
  
• 148 - Kamiakin - 3A#2 - 79:10.99
  
• 177 - Nathan Hale - 3A#3 - 79:16.84
  
• 208 - Redmond - 4A#2 - 80:05.58
  
• 244 - Mt Spokane - 3A#4 - 80:06.90
  
• 255 - Central Valley - 4A#3 - 80:48.74
  
• 267 - Garfield - 4A#4 - 80:34.10
  
• 287 - Bellarmine Prep - 4A#5 - 81:08.36
  
• 301 - Seattle Prep - 3A#5 - 80:29.72
  
• 310 - Tahoma - 4A#6 - 81:14.26
  
• 322 - Eisenhower - 4A#7 - 81:16.64
  
• 325 - Bishop Blanchet - 3A#6 - 81:43.80
  
• 325 - Henry Jackson - 4A#8 - 81:31.44
  
• 349 - Eastlake - 4A#9 - 81:58.79
  
• 374 - Wenatchee - 4A#10 - 82:12.34
  
• 402 - Olympia - 4A#12 - 82:38.83
  
• 409 - Sehome - 2A#1 - 82:36.98
  
• 410 - Squalicum - 2A#2 - 82:38.39
  
• 410 - Skyview - 4A#11 - 82:42.43
  
• 415 - Richland - 4A#13 - 82:26.80
  
• 430 - Columbia River - 3A#7 - 83:00.13

Girls Power Merge -

• 136 - Bellarmine Prep - 4A#1 - 94:27.36
  
• 164 - Camas - 4A#2 - 93:24.84
  
• 188 - Sehome - 2A#1 - 95:00.52
  
• 194 - Tahoma - 4A#3 - 95:37.81
  
• 232 - Central Valley - 4A#4 - 96:51.43
  
• 240 - Glacier Peak - 3A#1 - 96:51.49
  
• 240 - Lakeside (Seattle) - 3A#2 - 95:16.29
  
• 285 - Kamiakin - 3A#3 - 97:04.99
  
• 285 - Central Kitsap - 4A#6 - 97:22.09
  
• 297 - Eisenhower - 4A#7 - 97:20.77
  
• 298 - Snohomish - 4A#5 - 97:47.47
  
• 298 - Mountlake Terrace - 3A#5 - 99:10.26
  
• 320 - Garfield - 4A#8 - 98:57.41
  
• 330 - Lakeside - 1A#1 - 98:09.70
  
• 336 - Prairie - 3A#4 - 97:52.81
  
• 351 - Liberty-Issaquah - 3A#6 - 98:24.25
  
• 352 - Eastlake - 4A#9 - 98:32.09
  
• 362 - Skyline - 4A#10 - 98:15.06
  
• 370 - Gig Harbor - 4A#11 - 98:08.87
  
• 374 - Henry Jackson - 4A#12 - 98:45.39
  
• 390 - Walla Walla - 4A#13 - 98:50.98
  
• 391 - Peninsula - 3A#7 - 99:11.44

SteveU, on , said:

That sounds about right.

I'll do a power merge in a couple minutes. I haven't looked yet, but are the Athletic.net results updated yet? I know the results on the main source (jcrawford) are official now, but Athletic.net has a slightly better format for manipulating results (and not only because it seems there are four different format versions on jcrawford right now).

They didn't do team averages for 2A, but it looks like Sehome's top 5 averaged 19:00 or so. That would be 3rd overall after the 4A top two and ahead of all the 3A schools.

Merge, anyone?

Big advantages at 4 and 5 swung the 4A girls team title to Bellarmine Prep over Camas.

And yet, because Efraimson was so ridiculously fast, Camas' average per runner was 13 seconds faster!

http://www.jcrawford.../girls4a13.html

Gig Harbor boys: 15:06.37 - 15:09.28 - 15:14.24 - 15:29.62 - 15:59.38 - (16:09.10) - (16:30.76)

North Central boys: 14:44.83 - 15:17.89 - 15:44.95 - 15:45.95 - 15:51.15 - (16:16.09) - (16:52.78)

Washington is definitely a hot spot nationally. Spokane has always been, but it seems the whole state has the fever now.

watchout, on , said:

I guess I haven't been paying close enough attention, because those results are nuts to me, top individually and depth wise

Equinox2100, on , said:

4A had 29 guys sub-16. The average is in the low 20's, so it's a little better than usual, but not drastic by any means. And considering this year was already looking stronger in 4A than it has been in the past, that's not surprising.

21 guys sub-16 in 3A. There were 17 last year, and 20 in 2011. Again, a strong year explains that.

7 guys sub-16 in 2A. There were 10 last year, 10 in 2011, and 7 in 2010.

2 were sub-16 in 1A, and 1 was sub-16 in B, for a total of 3 in the small schools races. There were 3 last year, and 2 in 2011, and 4 in 2010.

In short: About on-par for 2A and below (actually, slightly under average); slightly over average in 3A, and a little more better than average in 4A.

Is...is the course a full 5k? What the hell is up with the times I count roughly 70+ guys under 16. I've never seen anything like this on a state level

I was at the line for the girls and the clock said 17:00

Definitely one of the big "WOW"'s of the state meet season! I seem to remember that Anderson was long ago tabbed as one of the most talented young runners in the country. Seems like potential has begun to be truly realized!

DougB, on , said:

Michak, on , said:

Thanks; that confirms that the results with the leaders at 14:33ish are off (I know the finish stretch is downhill, but they can't cover 161 meters in 11 seconds). Times might be off for other races as well (3A Girls are about 30 minutes off; Efraimson now posted at 16:49... that's still believable, but 12 seconds faster than what was reported earlier) ... hopefully they get these results corrected and posted.

Looking at the results for the 3a and 4a boys, it looks like it is going to be quite the race for the Northwest team title. Before today I thought that Gig Harbor would run away with the NW title, but now I think that NC has a shot at maintaining their streak. Still crossing my fingers that we get more than 2 bids to NXN

Aron Taylor @XCnation, on , said:

Probably. Of course, I thought the same last year, and plenty of kids didn't exactly do well in the slop. Hopefully this year will be better.

The main difference between Nathan Hale and Kamiakin was the 5th runner. Curious how it will play out at NXN Northwest

Looks like the 4A boys results posted to Athletic.net are accurate.

Gig Harbor with an average of 15:23.78 .... wow! Obliterates previous course records. 62 seconds faster than 2008 NXN Champion North Central, and 52 seconds ahead of the distance-adjusted time from the often-underachieving (at NTN during those years) Ferris '06 team that finished second despite some off races (and were ranked #1 by Marc Bloom heading into the meet).

I had the top two at 14:22 at 3 miles and the next two were around 14:40 and 14:45

Edit: Typing from my phone

DougB, on , said:

Awesome! Looks like there is an issue with the results posted on jcrawford... must be 3 mile times? Anderson and Hardy listed at 14:33.

Wow... Gig Harbor 1-2-3 finish in the Class 4A boys, duplicating the feat of Mead from 1993!

Logan Carroll gets the win with Wolfgang Beck second and Tristan Peloquin third. 15:08 winning time.

15:08 - 15:10 - 15:16 for Gig's top three.

Anderson and Hardy both under the record ... John Dressel third in 15:06, Kai Wilmot fourth in 15:08.

Whoa! Tanner Anderson in 14:45!!!

Joe Hardy second 14:47!