Youngs strike again: Seniors lead Redmond to second-place finish at Bi-district cross country meet

Redmond High senior cross-country runners Mack and Will Young ran away from the field at the 4A Kingco meet on Oct. 22, and the pair turned the trick again at the Bi-District meet on a soggy Sunday afternoon in Kelso, with both uncorking sub-15-minute performances for the first time in their lives.

Mack won the 3-mile race in 14 minutes, 50.75 seconds, with Will close behind at 14:55.90.

“Mack, Will and Miles (Hille, 42nd, 16:11.61) broke away a little before two miles, and then Mack broke away from Will with about a half-mile to go,” recalled Denis Villeneuve, Redmond’s head coach, adding that about half of the course was in very good condition for the amount of rain that had plastered the area. “There were a bunch of rain squalls during the day… and there were some turns and up-and-downs that were quite muddy. But it wasn’t all bad.”

The Youngs’ gold and silver performances propelled Redmond to a second-place finish, and most importantly, a state berth as one of the top three teams from the bi-district meet. Sophomore Max Dunn placed 29th and freshman Johnathan Stevens was 30th as the Mustangs had four runners in the top 30.

The whole season, Redmond’s top three runners – Mack, Will and Hille – have pushed each other to be the best they can, and now it’s paying dividends, Villeneuve said.

When Mack looks back and sees Will’s shadow, for instance, one can be sure there won’t be any let-up coming down the home stretch, Villeneuve said.

“All three of them train together, they’re good friends,” Villeneuve said. “It’s a big help for (Mack), because it’s hard by yourself to do all the training and everything to stay up. The three of them, they’ll help each other out.”

On the girls’ side, senior Devin McMahon had another great race, finishing second in 17:10.58, and with Redmond placing four more in the top 24 — Holly Young, 12th; Hailey Jorgensen, 17th; Jenna Sanders, 23rd; Melissa Villeneuve, 24th — the lady Mustangs also earned a state berth as a team, finishing second to Eastlake.

It will be the girls’ cross country team’s ninth-consecutive appearance at the Class 4A state cross country meet, which will be held at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco this Saturday.

Mack is the defending champion, having run the 3.1-mile course in 15:18 last year, the second-fastest time ever achieved at Sun Willows.

“There are 16 teams, and our first goal is to be in the upper half, and our second goal is that the top four (teams) get a trophy,” said Villeneuve. “We’re going to try and bring one home if we can.”

Bi-district Redmond results

Boys

Place Name Time Grade

1 Mack Young 14:50.75 12

2 Will Young 14:55.90 12

29 Max Dunn 15:56.65 10

30 Johnathan Stevens 15:57.46 9

42 Miles Hille 16:11.61 11

53 Cotter Boyle 16:29.90 11

66 Connor Chapman 16:55.65 10

Girls

2 Devin McMahon 17:10.58 12