Full recap from the 2022 Fort Steilacoom Invite at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.
LAKEWOOD - It was the one race that Cruize Corvin had circled on his calendar heading into his senior season.
For three years, the Lakes standout waited for his opportunity to once again race on his home turf in hopes of putting together an all-time performance that he would never forget for years to come.
On Saturday, his moment became a reality.
Corvin delivered an impressive early season run in his final Fort Steilacoom Invite, coming away with the win in the boys varsity gold race in a personal best time of 15 minutes, 1 seconds over the 5,000 meter course at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.
The highly anticipated race featured some of the top runners in the northwest alongside Corvin. Sehome's Zack Munson and Corvin's teammate Zander Trevino were among Washington's best athletes in the field, while Wilsonville's Carter Cutting and Mason Weisgerber represented Oregon's finest.
Knowing what was at stake, Corvin showed no fear from the start.
“I just wanted to go out there, give it my all and see what happens,” Corvin said. “I’ve just been believing in my training I’ve been doing all summer, just staying confident knowing my training was going to pay off.”
He led the top five through a 4:35-4:36 first mile with Munson right on his shoulder. The two eventually broke away from the pack heading into mile two and began going to battle with one another on the backend of the course that featured two tough hills.
After heading up the second hill, familiarity of the course began to go in Corvin's favor as he made a strong surge going down-hill to pull away from Munson, who finished 15:09 for second, with just under a half mile to go and never lost sight of first place.
"We train here every day," Corvin said. "We got Lakes High School right up there, so every morning we are out here running the course. It's just like our backyard out here."
Trevino ran to a season best performance of 15:47.5 to place fourth overall. Cutting and Weisgerber finished third and fifth, respectively, in times of 15:34.5 and 15:54.7.
Yelm’s Zachary Walsh took sixth in a personal best 15:59.8, beating Central Kitsap’s Blake Reynolds who placed seventh in a personal best run of 15:59.9.
Tumwater’s John Hoffer trailed behind in a season best 16:08.5 to secure an eighth-place finish.
West Valley (Yakima) took home the team title defeating Mead by three points 89-92. The Rams had two runners finish in the top-15 led by Boden Alderson finishing 10th in a personal best 16:16. Caden Casteel was 14th, running a season best 16:23.2.
Mead was led by Noah Holden’s ninth place run in a personal best of 16:15. Jonathan Lieb followed in 15th place in a personal best 16:23.8.
Sehome finished third with 104 points, followed by Lakes in fourth with 118 points and Camas in fifth with 131 points.
Clare Herring and a young Central Kitsap girls team came away with a big statement win in the gold race, defeating a veteran Tahoma squad by a single point 67-68.
"We came to just, like, try to do our best," Herring said. "I don't think any of us had time goals. We really wanted to try to stay to the front, and that was a goal of mine to get top-five, and I'm really glad I got to do that."
Herring was at the forefront for the Cougars, placing third overall in a time of 18:33 as she led three other CK girls into the top 20. Taylor and Audra Palmer were 11th and 12th in 19:17.3 and 19:20.5, while Camryn Bishoff was 16th in 19:32.7.
"We're a super close team," Herring said. "It's really fun running with all of them and running as a pack. In races, we just go out there and do our best, and it turned out really well."
The second place Bears also had four girls finish in the top four despite the absence of their top runner Sara Sanders not being in the line-up for the second race in a row.
Julia Stuard led the way with a ninth place run in 19:09.7, followed by Anika Nau placing 13th in 19:24.6, Kate Sanders in 15th at 19:25.9, and Kyle Castleman rounding out in 19th in 19:44.2.
Peninsula's Elektra Higgins was the top placer from Washington in the gold race, earning a second-place finish in a personal best effort of 18:31.4. Tigard's (Oregon) Sabine Kim leaned at the line to finish first in 18:31.3 despite a late surge from Higgins on the last 100 meters.
Bonney Lake freshman Latham West ran 18:55.3 to place fourth in her third-ever high school race, outrunning last spring's 3A 800 state champion Julia Couch of Auburn Riverside, who finished fifth in 18:57.
Lincoln’s (Seattle) Talia Braester made her season debut, running 19:00.4 to place sixth, and Eisenhower’s Isabela Alvarado took eighth, running 19:07.3.
Mt. Si’s duo of Addison Craig and Hailey Cossey placed seventh and 10th respectively in 19:03.6 and 19:16.8.
Rounding out the top-five in the team standings were Mt. Si and Peninsula finishing fourth and fifth with 106 and 121 points.
Kelso’s Kamren Mattison went on to win the boys silver race in a personal best time of 16:41.1. Seattle Academy’s Aspen Hoffman won the girls individual title in 19:56.
Olympia’s boys and girls both won the silver team titles as the boys defeated Bush 87-98 and girls beat Curtis 75-98.
Steilacoom's Aiden Koshinsky earned a third-place finish in the boys bronze race, placing behind West Point Grey's (Vancouver, British Columbia) Peter Neill and Liam Dachner who went 1-2 in 16:52.5 and 17:28.6.
Mt. Si took home the team title, defeating Lake Washington 72-93.
Orting's Sandra Ling earned herself a runner-up finish in the girls bronze race, running a time of 21:16. Eva Kriebel of West Point Grey won in 20:36.4 and led the Grey Wolves to the team title over Steilacoom 62-97.
For more results from the 2022 Fort Steilacoom Invite, click here.
For more photos, click here.
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