Royals shake off cross country blues, send 3 to state

It has been a long time since a Royal jersey has graced the field at the state 4A cross country championships.

Not since 2002 – when the Kent-Meridian boys led by Joe Timeus took sixth-place – have Royal runners qualified for state.

That all changed last weekend at the Westside Classic 4A championships in Lakewood, when three Kent-Meridian runners – D.J. Jigre, Derek Daigre and Alexia Martin – qualified for a trip to Pasco. Jigre, a junior, notched a 15th-place finish at the meet, with Daigre, a sophomore, coming in 22nd. Martin, a freshman, was 25th in the girls competition.

“We’re very pleased,” coach Ernie Ammons said. “We thought we might have a chance to sneak a team in there. We got ninth, which isn’t bad. You’ve got to do pretty good in the number four and five spots to do that. But it’s been a fantastic year for us all around.”

Ammons said it all started when he convinced Daigre and Jigre to turn out for the team.

Last season, Daigre was on the football team and Jigre competed on Ammons’ track and field squad.

“I actually found him (Jigre) in class, I teach P.E.,” Ammons said. “He did a pretty good 12-minute run and I asked him to come out.”

Previously, Jigre competed in cross country as a freshman at Santa Theresa High School in San Jose, Calif., where he placed first in the district meet. He was unable to compete in the state meet, however, because of school finances.

“My school was kind of poor,” he said. “So this is my first time at a state meet. It feels great.”

Jigre said he was hoping to improve on his 16:30.1 finish from districts.

“Actually I was hoping to go faster,” he said. “But I worked too hard before the race and didn’t have enough in me. The pace is quicker, but I’m getting used to it.”

For Martin, it’s her first year competing in cross country.

“This is just her second year running,” Ammons said. “She started off with track in eighth grade. The first time she ran, she did a 24-minute run and now she’s down to 19 minutes. She broke her personal-record time.”

Martin posted a 19:34.5 at the Westside Classic.

According to Ammons, the difference for Martin has been the coaching, both from the Kent-Meridian staff and some of the seniors on the team.

“In junior high, they don’t do a lot of coaching,” Ammons said. “And the seniors really helped her out, like Jill Boroughs, who just missed out on state and placed 40th at districts.”

Ammons said he’s keeping his expectations low for the state meet, but believes his athletes will do just fine.

“We’d like to be in the top 50 and I think that’s easily obtainable,” he said. “A lot has to do with how they react when they get running with all those fast kids. We’re just hoping they gain experience and bring that back and help next year.

“We only lose one senior off that district team,” Ammons added. “It’s exciting having those kids qualify, especially since it’s just their first year running cross country. For them to do this good is great.”