There are three guarantees every fall.
Trick or treating. Pumpkin spice lattes. The Rainier High School girls cross country team winning a district title.
Rainier’s dynasty through District 4 continued Saturday afternoon with its fourth straight District 4 1B/2B championship at Rainier Elementary School. The Mountaineers finished with 26 points to rank first out of seven full teams in attendance, with four runners placing in the top seven.
For the third straight year, a Mountaineer crossed the finish line to win the individual crown. Saturday’s race, however, marked the third different Mountaineer in three years to accomplish the feat, as senior Jazzlyn Shumate notched a new lifetime best time of 19 minutes and 54.85 seconds to place first despite battling multiple lower-body injuries and poor weather. But she knew as she was approaching the final 400 meters that a PR was possible.
“Today wasn’t said to be a PR day. It was bad weather. Most of our team’s hopes weren’t quite there. But we knew what had to be done,” Shumate said. “I was super happy, but now with state next weekend, I have my goals set even higher. I’ve been trying to hit the 19s all season but have been battling through some injuries. Today when I was running, I felt strong.”
Sophomore Komaire Robles, who won districts last year, finished second at 20:23.2. Robles is the first District 4 1B/2B runner to finish in the top two at districts in each of her first two varsity seasons since 2018-19.
