Is the third time the charm?

SPANAWAY — Bremerton senior Lih Kuhlman is getting to know Bellarmine Prep’s Brie Felnagle down the final stretch of the cross country season.

After finishing second to Felnagle at the Narrows League meet, Kuhlman finished second to Felnagle again last Saturday in the West Central Meet at Spanaway Lake Golf Course.

Kuhlman pushed Felnagle for the first mile or so, but the Bremerton girl came up short down the stretch as she crossed the finish line in 19 minutes, 15 seconds. Felnagle did the 5-kilometer course in 18:23.

Second place at districts is Kulhman’s best showing and she hopes it means a top-15 finish at today’s state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. Kuhlman finished 24th at state as a sophomore and 44th as a junior. The best finish ever for the Lady Knights was when Kim Rehmet took 12th in 1987 on the 3-mile course at Fort Worden State Park.

The rest of the Lady Knights didn’t fare nearly as well as Jovan Busher (73rd, 21:39), Bridget Anderson (79th, 21:47), Robyn Gross (88th, 22:09), Aimee Munzi (95th, 22:22), Alicia Maddox (113th, 23:00), Nicole Goss (119th, 23:18) struggled in the big pack of runners.

The Bremerton girls finished 12th in the team standings with the top eight teams advancing.

Bremerton’s lone entry in the boys Class 4A race, Josh Brown, didn’t reach state either, finishing 112th in 17:51. Shelton’s Alex McClary set the field’s pace with a 15:56.

In the Class A/B girls race, King’s West sophomore Ashley Dittmer earned her second berth to state with a 10th-place finish in 21:15. Dittmer finished 26th at Pasco last year.

She’ll be the team’s lone rep as Rachel Jarrett (30th, 23:51), Alex Vanderzee (52nd, 26:07), Elizabeth Clemen (55th, 26:42), Alyssa Miller (65th, 29:51), Shannon O’Brien (66th, 30:47) and Emily Maguire (70th, 35:15) missed the top-15 cut.

None of the Warrior boys had much luck either Nick Webster (36th, 18:53), Jeremy Grams (52nd, 19:33), Ben Hedman (63rd, 19:49), Chris Anderson (70th, 20:23), Steve James (79th, 20:50), Rik Moseng (81st, 20:58) were unable to make their top-25 cut.

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