WIAA REINSTATES COCHRAN AS CHAMPION

Posted by Darrin Beene @ 05:00:19 pm
June 2, 2005

Bellarmine Prep's Nicole Cochran ran the Class 4A girls 3,200 meters at Star Track XXVI in 10 minutes, 36 seconds.

It took her 10 days to officially win the state title.

Cochran, whose state-winning effort was nullified by a rules infraction during the first day of the meet, was reinstated as the winner by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

The Harvard-bound Cochran was the runaway winner in that 3,200 race. But a half-hour later, meet officials declared that she was disqualified for making three consecutive steps on the inside line of lane one late in the race. Runner-up Andrea Nelson of Shadle Park was handed the victory.

Bellarmine coaches and officials appealed the decision that night, which was denied.

They took their cause to the WIAA, and sent an appeals letter to executive director Mike Colbrese on Friday night. Colbrese spent much of last weekend interviewing each of the meet officials who were part of the ruling.

His last interview finished up at 11:30 a.m. Monday, and hours later, Colbrese reversed the decision on Cochran.

"The officials simply made a mistake," he said.

Her 10 team points for the victory were also added to the Lions' state-winning total, now a 4A-meet record 86.5 points.