Auburn Mountainview senior Christian Rotter was not about to let the torrential downpour affect him.

He is experienced enough to know better.

“They’re the conditions you’ve got to run in,” said Rotter, who finished fourth in 16 minutes, 56.6 seconds duringSaturday’s Westside Classic at American Lake to advance to the Class 3A state cross country meet this Saturday at SunWillows Golf Course in Pasco for a fourth consecutive year. “We live in Washington. It’s hard not to expect it this time of the year. You can’t let that get in your way.”

Rotter instead focused on strategy as he knew challenging Lincoln’s James Mwaura, who won the event in 16:18.2, would be difficult.

“I knew realistically unless I had an amazing day or he wasn’t feeling it that it would be a long shot to get him,” Rotter said.“When he started to take off … the next three or four of us kind of established that group.”

In another pack behind him was freshman teammate Nick Wolfe, who finished 12th in 17:29.4.

The top 30 placers advanced to state.

Auburn Mountainview’s Tim Tubbs, who coaches the program with Julianne Stricherz, said Wolfe has achieved success in spite of “a simple approach” to racing that comes with being new to the sport.

Rotter can sympathize. He is committed to playing soccer next year at Western Washington University and considers that his primary sport. Even though he did not compete in cross country until he was a freshman, Rotter advanced to state that year.He saw similar potential in Wolfe.

“At the beginning of the year, we knew he was going to be good after the first couple of practices,” said Rotter, adding that he looks forward to mentoring his teammate about the intricacies of the state meet.

Rotter and Wolfe will be joined by sophomore Samantha Goedde, who finished ninth in 20:51.3. Lakes’ Tatiana Smith won the 3A girls race in 19:53.

“I don’t think Samantha knows how good she is,” Tubbs said. “She just has to believe in herself.”

Goedde finished 93rd in 20:52.04 last year at state, but said she dealt with a side cramp during that race and can improve upon that placement.

Rotter, who was 26th in 16:12.46 last year at state, eyes at top-15 finish in this year’s event. That would qualify him forBorder Clash, which is the annual showcase of the top high school runners in Washington and Oregon at the 4,387-meter course at the Nike World Headquarters Campus in Beaverton, Ore.

Based on experience, Rotter has a specific strategy for state.

“You have to get out fast because after that first mile comes in there’s no one that’s going to be jumping 30 to 40 spots,”he said.

Rotter has the 19th best time (16:03) in 3A this season. For that reason, Tubbs said Rotter will need a strong race to achieve his goal.

“There are a lot of ingredients to success,” he said. “The race just has to make its turn in his favor. He’s right there.”