Just because the cross country season is over doesn’t mean the athletes have stopped running.

In fact, for some Bellevue cross country runners, the state championship – where the boys team finished third – wasn’t the last elite meet of the year.

Several Bellevue runners took part in the Nov. 14 Nike Team National Regional qualifying event. Dubbed the “Wolverine XC Club”, the Bellevue athletes held their own in Boise, Idaho against the region’s best, finishing in fifth place.

The top-two teams (North Central and Ferris) earned automatic team berths to the Nike Team National Championship. While Bellevue didn’t qualify for the event as a team, senior Michael Williams did – by finishing second overall at the event.

“In a lot of ways, that race is tougher than state,” said Bellevue cross country coach John Hill. “Most of the teams participating are state champions, or very close to it.”

Four of the top five finishers were team state championships – North Central (3A) and Ferris (4A) took titles in Washington, while Crater and Central Catholic represented champions from Oregon. Jackson High School, which finished fifth at the meet, was the 4A runner-up in Washington, and was ranked No. 1 nationally for weeks this season.

“Every team in front of them was certainly great,” Hill said. “The teams they beat were successful teams too.”

Williams, the KingCo 3A/2A champion who finished 9th at the state meet, finished the race in 15:44, earning the automatic berth to the National Championship event.

“I think at the state meet, I kind of psyched myself out, put a little too much pressure on myself,” Williams said. “Honestly, I didn’t really expect to make it, I just wanted to finish top-10.”

Thanks to a strong start, he finished much better. The start was important, Hill said, because of the way the race started – the course quickly turned into a bottleneck – meaning those who didn’t get in the front pack quickly, like Williams’ teammate Joel Ambo, weren’t able to push their way through.

“I got just enough so that I wasn’t boxed in,” Williams said. “It gets so narrow so quickly.”

Ambo wasn’t so fortunate. His start left him stuck in a group of runners. He eventually finished 25th in 16:24, the second-highest Bellevue finisher behind Williams.

“Joel’s race is built on the fact that he’s capable of making a push from way back,” Hill said. “Unfortunately, unless you were in the top 20 or 30 coming into the trail, you were going to be buried or stuck.”

Williams stuck with the lead pack and, motivated by his disappointing finish at state, made a move at the two mile mark and eventually out-kicked another competitor for second place.

“There’s no question it was a breakthrough race for him,” Hill said. “But it’s not overly surprising. He’s got a continual fire burning in the belly for sure.”

Other Bellevue finishers included Phillip Matthews (70th, 16:59), John Fowler (106th, 17:23), Ryan Long (120th, 17:29), Charlie Penner (157th, 17:55), and Robert Ferris (167th, 18:06).

Both Williams and Ambo were also qualified to run in last weekend’s Border Clash event in Portland, which brings together the best from Washington and Oregon to meet. The weekend, however, started out with a bit of a surprise, Hill said, when Williams started to experience stomach pain Friday, and had to be taken to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. His status for the Nike National Meet, also in Portland on Dec. 5, is now up in the air.

“He was pretty disappointed about it,” Hill said in an email to the Reporter. “If he can run in the Nike National meet, he will, if it is appropriate for his health.”

Ambo did run in the event, finishing 13th overall in 14:34. The Washington boys team swept the first 10 spots, and finished with 13 of the top 15 runners. The combined meet champion was the Washington team of boys and girls.