Kentridge High School graduate Isaac Derline was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Male Athlete of the Week for Oct. 3-9.
Derline, a junior at Western Washington University in Bellingham, won the men’s 10 kilometers at the 43rd Annual WWU Cross Country Classic last Saturday, becoming the first WWU men’s individual champion since 2009. Derline crossed the finish line with a time of 31:13.2, four seconds ahead of Joel DeSchiffart from Trinity Western (31:17.3).
“It was good – good to bring the win back to Western finally,” Derline said in a media release from Western Washington University. “Coaches gave us a plan of just sticking with the front pack (until) halfway through the race and then once you hit 5K, just start racing that second half and picking people off. It went right to plan.”
The junior is having a breakout season after being sidelined much of his sophomore year with injuries, according to the media release. In three races this fall he has recorded a pair of 6th-place finishes (Central Washington University Invite and the Roy Griak Invitational) and the first-place finish at the WWU Classic.
Derline, a 2014 graduate of Kentridge, ran track and cross country in high school and finished 52nd at the 4A state cross country championships his senior year.
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