Submitted photo – Everett Docherty will represent the H-DNL at the cross country state championships this weekend.

Eureka’s Everett Docherty is closing out his high school career in style.

Two weeks ago, the standout senior won the H-DNL boys cross country championship and he followed that with a league-best performance at the North Coast Section championships last weekend.

And this weekend he’s preparing for the biggest race of his life as he heads south to Fresno as one of two H-DNL representatives for Saturday’s state championships, along with Arcata sophomore Evan Poston.

Docherty placed 15th at the Division-4 section championships, finishing a very muddy and difficult three-mile course in a time of 17 minutes, 17.6 seconds.

Poston finished just one spot behind the league champion in 16th, just four seconds back.

The outstanding sophomore crossed the finish line in a time of 17:21.5.

The two H-DNL standouts were the last individual qualifiers for the state meet within their division.

Eureka head coach Will Zerlang believes Docherty will be ready for the prestigious race and will turn in another strong performance.

“Everett is dialed in right now” Zerlang said. “He’s found the fire. He’s doing everything right now. He’s doing his nutrition, he’s doing his training, he’s super focused.”

Poston was arguably even more impressive at the NCS meet considering his age.

The H-DNL runner was the third fastest sophomore in the race and like Docherty will be making his first-ever trip to the state championships.

Impressive Eureka sophomore Ryder Bullman also impressed at the NCS meet, finishing 18th in a time of 17:22.9, while Del Norte’s Dylan Rodriguez was four spots further back in 22nd, finishing in a time of 17:38.1.

Arcata’s Ocean Walker (31st), Levi Browne (35th) and Caden Demers (36th), Fortuna’s Juan Ornelas (37th) and Arcata’s Reece Thompson (47th) each also placed in the top 50.

Ornelas was the second highest-placed freshmen.

As a team, the league champion Arcata Tigers finished fifth, just one spot out of state qualification, while Eureka was eighth and Fortuna 17th.

In the girls race, outstanding Eureka sophomore Claire Gast capped a brilliant debut season competing at the high school level with a league-best finish.

Gast placed 31st in a time of 22:26.7 and should only continue to improve over the next two years.

Zerlang saw her run as a freshman during the track and field season in the spring and convinced her to come out for cross country.

And she did not disappoint, winning all six of the league races she competed in, including the recent league championships.

“She’s got a beautiful stride, and she’s also naturally disciplined and focused,” said Zerlang, who admitted even he was surprised at how impressive she looked. “I knew she was a good runner, but I didn’t expect that.”

And the best is yet to come for the sensational sophomore, who not only won all of her league races but did so in dominating fashion, comfortably out-distancing the rest of the field each time.

“There’s so much more there,” Zerlang said. “I think she could be a sub 20 runner. She’s got two more years to do it.”

Fortuna’s Alexa McCall also impressed for the league and placed 53rd, while Eureka’s Summer Morales was 57th and Arcata’s Zoe Cappuccio was 60th.

Morales was particularly impressive while running her best race of the year in the difficult conditions.

“She battled all year and at NCS she beat all the girls that had beaten her all year,” Zerlang said of the hard-working junior. “She just works her butt off.”

As a team, the league champion Arcata girls led the H-DNL with a 12th-place finish, while Eureka was 13th and Fortuna 15th.