PASCO — Her voice doesn’t speak with a booming inflection. Her running style slides into a comfortable spot within the top echelon of Class 1A runners.
Since Sasha Pash made her debut for the La Center High School girls cross country program, all she’s done is win plenty of races, qualify for the state championships at Sun Willows Golf Course each year and go about her business.
Now, she can add state medalist to her list of accomplishments.
Pash controlled her race from the opening gun to crossing the finish line in 10th place with a time of 19 minutes, 41.10 seconds on Saturday morning.
“I’m really happy about it,” Pash said. “It has been a goal for a while.”
The previous two trips to Pasco have resulted in top-25 placements, but a medal was just out of reach. Pash took off from the starting line and bee-lined to the front of the pack. She was 13th after the mile and 10th with 1.1 miles to go.
It’s the first time the Wildcats junior ran sub-20 minutes on one of the most difficult courses on their schedule.
“I learned not to go out too fast at the beginning and try to push in the second (loop),” Pash said.
Pash was waiting to break the 20-minute barrier after coming close last fall. She first accomplished it at the Meriweather Cross Country Classic nearly two months ago, then did it four straight races leading into state.
That included a Trico League and District 4 individual title. It sets up Pash with plenty of positivity ahead of the track and field season.
“It built some confidence," Pash said.
La Center placed ninth in the team race. It had Evalyn Barnes, Alice Cottle, Hannah Zylstra and Chloe Daarud place inside the top-105.
Up in Class 4A, Battle Ground’s Sophia Rodgers just missed a medal, placing 21st in 19:01.50. The junior was in prime position to garner some hardware, leading a chase pack for the first mile and a little bit longer approaching mile two.
She faded away and dropped seven spots over the final mile-plus.
“I raced my hardest, that’s the best thing I guess,” Rodgers said. “I thought it was going to be a top group, then a little regular pack. I wasn’t expecting all those people; it caught me off-guard.”
Despite the end result, it did mark the best finish for Rodgers at state and her time was 20 seconds faster than last fall. Now, the motivation to come back in 2026 is stronger than ever in her eyes.
“It is nice to see that I’m faster,” Rodgers said. “I want that medal.”
Prairie qualified as a team in Class 3A and placed 19th out of 20 teams with 574 points. Its highest finisher was Chloe Copes in 111th place. Meanwhile in Class 2A, Ridgefield placed 11th in the team race after piling up 286 points.
Of the three area teams in the field, Hockinson’s Graysen Aldridge was the best finisher, 28th in 20:07.80. Abigail Peck was the top Spudder after crossing the line in 32nd place. Woodland’s Kaylynn McSmith finished in 108th place.
