With her senior year quickly approaching, Latham West is eager to show what the last three years of hard work were all about.

Latham is an 8-time top 5 finisher at state in XC and track and is dreaming of her ending her high school career a state champion… in both running and wrestling.

Not only has she shown competence on the track (PR’s of 4:51 and 10:26 in the 1600m and 3200m, respectively), Latham is also a 3-time state placer on the mat (2nd place in 4A state in 2025).

After signing to University of Portland for the Fall of 2026, Latham is locked in and ready to run full steam ahead into what she hopes to be a senior year to remember.

The first of our three-part Summer School Series is now out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

We sat down with Coach Pat Tyson, Director of Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field at Gonzaga University, to educate our listeners on recruiting at the collegiate level.

Coach Tyson began his running journey at Lincoln HS (Tacoma) before joining a historic U of Oregon squad with legend Steve Prefontaine. While there, Tyson learned under coaches Bill Bowerman and the late Bill Dellinger while winning a NCAA title in 1971. Coach Tyson coached at Shoreline Junior High and Shorecrest HS before creating a dynasty at Mead HS, where the Panthers won 12 state titles in 18 years and reached the top of the national rankings during multiple seasons. In 2007, Coach Tyson took the Head Coach position at Gonzaga and has created a successful program with the Zags in Spokane.

This was a fun conversation! Not only did we talk recruiting, but we managed to get some stories out of Coach Tyson about running at Oregon as well.

Coach Phil English is calling it a career after 46 years of coaching.

Eisenhower’s legendary coach, known by many as “Mister”, has led the guys and girls Cadets teams to state a total of 57 times, winning 7 state titles in the process. Mister has also been inducted into the Washington Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches Associations Hall of Fames.

In this episode, we dive into Coach English’s early running days in Ireland, his experience running at Washington State University, and how he moved into a coaching role before prying into some of his retirement plans.

We have so much respect for Coach English and his coaching philosophy. His care for his athletes is blatant and he measures his success the positive impact left on the athletes lives.

Hailey and Aleeya Cossey are not only identical twins—they’re identical VERY FAST twins.

The two have been nearly stride for stride since beginning their running journeys at six years old. After four years at Mt. Si, two state team titles and ten top-5 state placements, the sisters are headed to Washington State University to continue their education and run for the Cougars.

In this episode, not only do we talk about their running journeys, but we dive into the dynamic of their relationship; learning how they strategize their races together, their possible twin-telepathy, and what competition looks like between the two of them. Not only that, but we find out what it’s like for them to balance their lives as strong distance runners while also excelling in the classroom—both garnering the title of Valedictorian.

Cooper Boyle is gearing up for another state championship this week at Mt. Tahoma. After being sick at districts, he’s looking forward for what the weekend has in store.

That’s not the only thing Cooper is gearing up for. He is deferring his scholarship at Utah State University until after his two year church mission in Samoa. While there he will learn the local language, learn new dishes, and serve the locals.

Before going abroad, Cooper has a few races he’s looking forward to and hoping to win another state title after this fall’s 4A cross country state meet.

Josie McLaughlin isn’t just a phenom on the 2B level—she’s ranked in the top 20 across all classifications in the 400, 800 and 1600m runs. The 7-time individual state champ is looking forward to running 7 races at the state meet, counting prelims and adding the 4x400 to the mix.

In this episode, Josie recounts her early days of running and where she learned of her competitive nature. She also fills us in on the nature of St. George’s school and tells how lucky she is to have the teammates and coach she has. Next year, Josie will attend Amherst College in Massachusetts to run on the collegiate level.

Senior Kade Brownell is looking to finish high school with a bang.

Only 25 high schoolers have ever broke the four-minute mile barrier, and Kade Brownell has his sights set on joining the list by the end of his track season.

Our conversation with Kade was fascinating—covering his senior year, Footlocker Nationals, Mt. Spokane’s distance team and Spokane county’s running culture.

Victoria Rodriguez is not only a @brooksrunning sponsored athlete, she's one of the best runners in the country.

Victoria moved to Washington just before her junior year and quickly learned to adjust to a new school, team and training plan.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Victoria to hear more about her experiences running at some of the nation's fastest meets, Mercer Island sweeping the ЗА XC state meet this Fall, and scoring a NIL deal with Brooks.

The steeple-chasing standout is hoping to finish her senior year by enjoying some big races and hoping for a state track team title before heading back to the east coast to join Wake Forest next fall.

Kylah Madariaga may be a state champ, but what’s more important to her than that may surprise people.

Kylah joined THE WASH’d RUNNER this week having already racked up a cross state title, impressive track PR’s, and committed to run at Washington State University this coming fall. But what really made the graduating senior so impressive was her selflessness with her team and her mindful approach to competition.

Duncan Frisbie-Smith of Bush HS revealed an injury-plagued 2024 kept him cross training most of last year.

A Brown University-bound senior, Duncan shared about his weekend at the Oregon Relays, his breakout race at the Issaquah Icebreaker, and what he’s hoping to accomplish in the Arcadia 3200m Invitational this coming weekend. Currently, the 1A standout has the 2nd fastest 3200m time in the entire state, and in this episode explains how being from a small school in downtown Seattle has impacted his high school running experience.