Kyle MacDonald's goal for his senior cross country season was to lead his whole West Seattle High School team beyond the All-Metro meet into the SeaKing District championship race. Last Thursday at Lower Woodland, MacDonald led, his teammates followed, and the West Seattle boys advanced to cross country's version of the playoffs for the first time this century.

Fourth-year coaches, Christopher and Annette Silvernale, and their team, knew that in order to finish in the top eight, they had to score fewer points than either Eastside Catholic or Ingraham. The three-way battle for the bottom two qualifying spots was achingly close: Ingraham 213 points (7th), West Seattle 218 (8th), Eastside Catholic 223 (9th).

Personal records by MacDonald (10th) and Cooper Sinai-Yunker (36th) were pivotal. MacDonald's 16:47.0 was a personal record by 31.7 seconds, Sinai-Yunker's 18:04.7 a personal record by 28.7 seconds. The 31-point differential they built vis-