Cross Country / State High-School Championships -- Running From Injuries, Mckissick Found Niche -- Kamiak Senior Now State Title Contender

After a knee injury suffered during seventh-grade football put him on the sidelines for a month, a young Ian McKissick decided he needed a new, less debilitating athletic hobby.

"My dad used to run, and he told me that I should," said McKissick, a senior at Kamiak High School. "I remembered running in a kids fun run when I was 6, and I won a little trophy. It seemed fun to me then, but all my friends went out for football in junior high. But I didn't like getting injured. So I ran."

And ran and ran and ran. By his freshman year, he already was the No. 2 runner on the Class 4A Kamiak varsity cross-country team. He placed third at district and 29th in state as a sophomore. Last year he moved up to 13th in state, even though he had been ill several days before the race. This year?

"I think he's one of the top runners in the state," said McKissick's coach, Charles LeWarne. "There are five or six runners who make up the top group, and Ian's in that group. It's not out of line to say that he could win it."

Said McKissick: "I'd say I'd be disappointed if I don't finish in the top five. I have as good a chance as anyone."

Today at noon, the 4A boys race at the state cross-country meet will be run on the 3.1-mile course at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. McKissick, the WesCo 4A and Northwest District champion, will be challenged primarily by four Eastern Washington runners, including rival Matt Topping of Kamiakin.

McKissick and teammate Joe Pankiewicz will be the only members of the Kamiak squad at the meet. The Knights, who were ranked as high as No. 2 this season, were upset at last Friday's district meet by Snohomish.

McKissick, who won the district meet in a relatively slow 16 minutes, 27 seconds, 15 seconds ahead of Snohomish's Ben Rook, will keep a close eye on Topping and the other top contenders the moment they leave the starting line.

In his first competition this season, McKissick was overtaken in the final 400 meters and placed second to Topping on a 2.5-mile course at the Edmonds Invitational.

On Oct. 10, at the 45-school Richland Invitational, McKissick certified his top-contender status by outrunning Topping and Dustin Duke of Class 3A Jackson to place second in a race won by Adam Tenforde of 3A Hanford. McKissick covered the hilly 3.1-mile Richland course in 15:36.

LeWarne calls that "probably the defining race in his career." McKissick said: "That race gave me a lot of confidence. He's (Tenforde) probably the best runner in the state, and he broke out real fast. It proved to me that I can run by myself, that I don't need someone's shoulder to stick to in order to do well in a big race."

McKissick's strategy is to go out hoping for a quick pace in the first mile, take over in the second, forcing the pack to try and match his swift middle-mile pace while sapping, he hopes, his opponents' finishing kicks.

The strategy tries to take advantage of McKissick's endurance. A routine training week for McKissick during the season, when he placed first in seven races, covers at least 55 miles, and commonly as many as 70.

"We monitor his mileage so he won't injure himself," LeWarne said. "But he just loves to run. He thrives on long mileage."

McKissick is also a rock climber, hiker and avid skier (alpine and nordic). He and his father serve on ski patrols at Snoqualmie Pass. He bulked up to 175 pounds lifting weights before his junior year, which he admits was not his best year as a runner. This year he dropped to 155.

"I love running," said McKissick, whose dream is a scholarship offer from Washington State. "I don't know why. It's just good to know that when I want to go out for a 10- or 12-mile run, I can. I like the runner's high, the endorphin rush. I like the smooth feeling I get when I run."

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STATE MEET AT A GLANCE

WHEN/WHERE - Today, Pasco, Sun Willows Golf Course.

RACE TIMES - Class A-B girls, 10 a.m.; 2A girls, 10:30 a.m.; 3A girls, 11 a.m.; 4A girls, 11:30 a.m.; A-B boys, noon; 2A boys, 12:30 p.m.; 3A boys, 1 p.m.; 4A boys, 1:30 p.m.

DISTANCE - 3.1 miles (5,000 meters).

WHAT'S NEW - Results will be posted on the Internet about an hour after each race. Internet address is: http://www.pasco.wednet.edu/staff/crawford/index.html

LAST YEAR'S TEAM CHAMPIONS.

4A boys - University (Spokane) 4A girls - South Kitsap. 3A boys - Capital (Olympia) 3A girls - E.Valley (Spok.). 2A boys - Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) 2A girls - Ephrata. A-B boys - Chelan A-B girls - Chelan.

TOP TEAM CONTENDERS

4A boys - University (Spokane), Lewis & Clark (Spokane), Mead (Spokane), Ferris (Spokane), Snohomish.

4A girls - Mead (Spokane), Shadle Park (Spokane), Marysville-Pilchuck, Wenatchee, South Kitsap.

3A boys - West Valley (Yakima), East Valley (Spokane), Capital (Olympia), Lakeside (Seattle), O'Dea, Interlake.

3A girls - East Valley (Spokane), Newport, Blanchet, Issaquah.

2A boys - Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), Omak, East Valley (Yakima).

2A girls - Omak, Riverside, Connell.

A-B boys - Toledo, La Center, St. George's, Liberty Bell.

A-B girls - Chelan, La Center, White Pass.

RETURNING INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

4A boys - Tom Becker, sr., Mount Spokane

3A boys - Dustin Duke, sr., Jackson

3A girls - Melanie Frostad, so., East Valley (Spokane)

2A girls - Staci Hunter, so., Ephrata

A/B boys - Ned Miller, sr., Darrington

A/B girls - Samantha Clarke, so., St. George's

OTHER RUNNERS TO WATCH

4A boys - Ryan Craig, sr., Rogers (Spokane) (beat Becker at district meet); Ian McKissick, sr., Kamiak (Northwest district champ); Sean Knapp, sr., Gig Harbor (3rd at state last year); Eric Garner, sr., Kelso (District III champ); Jonathan Gibson, jr., Woodinville (KingCo district champ); Ian Johnson, sr., University; Joey Neuman, sr., Lewis & Clark.

4A girls - Amy Bair, sr., Mountain View (2nd at state last year); Kim Stone, sr., Bethel (3rd at state last year); Camille Connelly, so., Marysville-Pilchuck (Northwest district champ); Jamie Rosenquist, sr., Lewis & Clark; Carly Barnes, sr., Gonzaga Prep.

3A boys - Adam Tenforde, Hanford (4th at state last year; has beaten Duke at invitationals); Ben Koss, sr., Capital (3rd at state last year); Mike Kamm, sr., Interlake (Sea-King district champ); Jared Christianson, sr., West Valley (Yakima); Javon Broderick, sr., O'Dea; Habtamu Aregaw, jr., Lindbergh; Tomm Johnson, sr., Squalicum.

3A girls - Melissa Frostad, so., East Valley (Spokane) (Melanie Frostad's twin sister, 5th at state last year); Anna Blue, sr., Capital (2nd at state last year); Rose Wetzel, jr., Blanchet (Sea-King District champ); Megan Johnson, jr., Seattle Prep (6th last year at state); Jodee Adams-Moore, so., Newport (3rd last year at state); Robin Dixon, jr., Newport; Korinda Godwin, sr., East Valley (Spokane).

2A boys - Matt Harriman, jr., Omak (2nd at state last year); Rafael Chacon, jr., Grandview; Ryan Davison, sr., East Valley (Yakima); Jake Haskins, so., Port Townsend.

2A girls - Emily Turner, fr., Omak; Marie Pascoe, jr., Hoquiam; Barrett Ebright, jr., Vashon.

A-B boys - Phil Olson, sr., Tacoma Baptist; Seth Miller, sr., Cashmere; Todd Arnold, jr., Ocasta.

A-B girls - Kristy Fournier, sr., Bellevue Christian (3rd at state last year); Cassie Sloan, jr., Columbia-Burbank (2nd at state last year); Laura Halverson, so., Freeman.

Compiled by Dave Berger, Seattle Times staff reporter