Preview of the South Sound Classic
- West Coast XC
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
South Sound Classic - May 2, 2026
Carl Sparks Stadium - Puyallup, WA
Watch the preview HERE
Emerald Ridge and Rogers High School host the competitive South Sound Classic on Saturday and here are distance athletes to watch at Carl Sparks Stadium.
1600 Meters
Latham West of Bonney Lake is having an impressive senior track season and arrives at the South Sound Classic with the top seed of 4:51.83. West finished third at the 4A Washington Cross Country State Meet in November and placed fifth in the 1600 at last year's Washington State Meet. Aubrey Wilems Eastlake and Callie Orcutt of West Valley (Yakima) look to be the closest competitors to West. Wilems won the 4A Washington Cross Country State Meet in November. Elise Corr of Seattle Prep and Maggie Cowan of Ingelmoor hope the fast pace will help them break the five minute barrier in the 1600.
Isaac Benjamin of South Kitsap has the top seed in the boy's 1600 with a 4:10.73. Benjamin ran an impressive 3200 at the Arcadia Invitational in 8:47. There are plenty of athletes that will push Benjamin and it is possible to have several athletes dip under 4:10 in the 1600. Amin Fidaar of Rogers (Puyallup) has a 4:11 PB and won his heat of the 1500 at last week's Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays. Quenton Lanese of Olympia broke nine minutes in the 3200 at Arcadia Invitational and is racing like a veteran as a freshman. Mana Voss of Central Kitsap won the Oregon Relays 800 in 1:50.00 and will be a threat for a kick at the end of the 1600. Henry Herb of Seattle Prep also broke the fabled nine minute barrier at Arcadia and is in the 1600.
800 Meters
It could be anyone's race in the girl's 800 as five athletes are listed at 2:15. Aliah Karl of Edmonds-Woodway was a state qualifier in the 800 last year and so was Liliana Britain of Tahoma and Macy Powell of Seattle Prep. Callie Orcutt of West Valley and Gabriela Chencheva of Eastlake have 2:15 entry times too.
The top three seed time athletes in the 800 are also listed in the boy's 1600 earlier in the meet. Amin Fidaar ran his 1:51.59 at the Oregon Relays to finish fourth. Caden Durocher of Olympia his 1:52.65 personal best at the Arcadia Invitational and ran the 800 at last year's state meet. Kian Compton of Eisenhower ran his season best of 1:53.81 at the Arcadia Invitational and finished fourth at the Washington 4A State Cross Country Championships. Maxim Delyagin of Inglemoor and Max Gallegos of West Valley (Yakima) are other athletes to watch in the 800.
3200 Meters
Latham West ran her season's best in the 3200 at the Oregon Relays with her third place finish. Sophia Rodriguez of Mercer Island ran her season best in the 3200 last week in a dual meet and has come close to breaking ten minutes in the event last year in track. Charlotte White of Curtis has broken the eleven minute barrier in the 3200 and looks to lower her time on Saturday. Lucy Fraser of Skyline and Bella Heczey of Mercer Island are excellent threats to break the eleven minute barrier on Saturday.
Cohen Butler of Camas dipped under nine minutes on Tuesday and has a chance to go after his 8:56 personal best set last year on Saturday. Butler was the Gatorade Player of the Year for cross country in the state of Washington. He won the 4A Washington Cross Country State Meet and won NXR NW in Spokane which qualified him to race at NXN. Sammy Connell of Inglemoor, Patrick Walsh of Yelm, Ignacio Llorens of Bainbridge and Gavin McKeegan of Gig Harbor hope to stay close to Butler and lower their season's best in the 3200
Look for photo galleries from the South Sound Classic soon after the meet!
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