Nolan Spickert didn’t lose a race this season.

The Centralia junior stayed undefeated Friday by winning the Class 3 boys race at Gans Creek in Columbia, breaking his own school record with a time of 15:20.2 and becoming the school’s first cross country individual state champion. His fellow junior Jensen Decker was 10th with a time of 16:20.2 for his second straight individual medal, and Katelynn Asbury won her first cross country state medal with a personal-best time of 19:10.5 to finish seventh, which is the best finish for a Centralia girl.

Spickert has been all-state for the boys team the past two years while it won back-to-back state championships. Last year, Spickert was the runner-up after finishing 12 seconds behind Hollister senior Sinry Mendoza. He hadn’t forgotten going into this year.

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“Getting second last year was good, but I wasn’t satisfied,” Spickert said. “I really wanted to come and win it this year, so it means a lot to me.”

Spickert said last year’s finish was “a huge motivator,” and he has refused to lose since then. He won all nine of Centralia’s meets this season and took control in the race after he was ranked third going in, according to him. 

After the first 1,000 meters, another senior was threatening Spickert for his state title. MICDS senior Heru Bey was neck-and-neck with Spickert with each posting a 2:53.7 split. Spickert started gaining more separation around the 4,000 mark when he shot 14 seconds ahead of Bey and then finished 27 seconds faster.

“The race went exactly how I imagined it every single night leading up to it,” Spickert said. “Fast, fast and just take off with it. That’s exactly how it went. I used the hills, mostly. Not everybody does here, but whenever I see one, I just fly down it.”

Decker gained separation from his past self as he jumped 10 places on the podium. He said his goal is to be under 16:00, which he is 13 seconds slower than right now when he ran his personal-best time this year, but he is happy for running well enough to be on the podium in a sport he loves.

“I wake up every morning and I breathe and I live running,” said Decker, who medaled in every meet this season. “That’s what I think about all the time. If I’m daydreaming in class, I’m thinking about running.”

Decker said he likes running with Spickert. Both of them love the sport, and that’s what it takes to build over time and “stay mentally there and mentally intact.”

Head coach Jason Watermann said Spickert and Decker have known each other since they were little and push each other well. He said Spickert always runs his best and always wants to face the best. 

“Good teammates help out because it’s hard to go out and run on your own,” Watermann said. “He does have good determination, and he always wants to be the best. They became best buds and ran all the time together.”

Asbury said she knew Friday was going to be a good day and was satisfied with how she did after running a personal-best time. She had a more than satisfactory season by winning six of the nine races she ran in, with her worst placing being state. Previously, Asbury clocked times over 21:00 at state, which gave her finishes of 55th and 74th.

“After the last few years, I knew it was going to start fast,” Asbury said. “You have no control of how fast it’s going to start. It’s going to start fast. Being prepared for that, being able to hold it and set your pace from the beginning really has helped me, and I knew what to expect this year.”

Asbury said the big girls team around her helped motivate her because she wanted to be at her best for them and they felt the same way. 

The junior Asbury earned the highest placing for a Centralia girl, which bested Jozelynn Bostick’s 11th-place finish in 2020, but Watermann said she also has the school’s girls state meet record. The previous time was a 16th-place 19:28 by Kenedee Moss in 2023.

Watermann said he has been aware of Asbury for a while since his wife was athletic director and assistant principal at the middle school. He noticed Asbury when she was playing basketball in eighth grade.

“I could tell how determined she was and how much grit she had,” Watermann said. “I just knew that, whatever sport she played, I needed her to at least dual sport and run cross country. She came to our summer stuff and asked, ‘Is it alright if I just do cross country.’ Determination and grit, you can say that about all three of (our all-state runners), but she’s just a beast.”

Asbury’s big goal for next year includes “be the first.” Bostick still has the school-record time of 19:07 that she set in the 2021 Gans Creek Classic. Asbury thinks she can do even better.

“Next year, definitely get 18,” Asbury said. “That is my biggest goal now. To be the first girl in Centralia to break 18.”

When it comes to lofty goals, Spickert said “it all comes together” after running many miles and good support from teammates and coaches. Accomplishments and recognition are then possible.

Watermann said Spickert’s sophomore year probably was the best season in school history, but he eclipsed that this year in a big way. Everyone knows his name and will be chasing him now.

“The last two or three weeks, every cross country race that we went to, everyone was like, ‘Oh, there’s Nolan Spickert,’” Watermann said. “As an individual, for them to physically know what he looks like and say his whole name, that’s never happened.”