Sunfair, Curtis, and Leavenworth highlight busy first weekend of October.
The long-awaited arrival of Olympia's Ethan Coleman season debut was finally over this past weekend, and it didn't disappoint.
The Cedarcrest Golf Course in Marysville witnessed its fastest 5k time ran ever at the 14th annual Nike Twilight Invite as Coleman clocked in a new personal best and state best 14:40.20 to win the 4A/3A boys race. Eastlake's own Nathan Pixler held the previous course record when he ran 15:11 in the 2015 invite.
Coleman's efforts were solo from start to finish as he blew away from the field. Closing in the last 1.1 miles in 5:13, Coleman averaged around 4:35 for his final mile, cruising his way through the downhill stretch to the finish.
According to Athletic.net, Coleman's 5k time ranks second in the entire country, trailing behind the No. 1 time of 14:38.8 ran by Sam Rich from Catawba Ridge out of South Carolina.
Arlington won the 4A/3A title scoring 63 points beating out a Newport (Bellevue) squad that finished with 86. Aiden Emerson led the charge for the Eagles, running a new personal best time of 15:31. Five more Arlington runners also ran personal best times, including top 10 finishers Brandon Moore (5th, 15:44) and Ryan Rushton (10th, 16:13.30).
Sam Jacobsen was Newport's top finisher, just trailing Emerson in third running a personal best 15:41.50. Oscar Pont finished in the top 10 as well for Newport, running 16:12.80 to finish in ninth.
Mercer Island was third in scoring with 158 points led Ryan Koopman's 14th place personal best run of 16:18.90.
Squalicum took home the 2A/1A/B boys title defeating Northwest Conference foe Sehome 73-104. Three Storm runners finished in the top 10, with Chase Bartlett placing the highest in third place, running 16:41.90. Tyler Neilsen (16:46.20) and Owen Voigt (16:52.40) followed behind in eighth and 10th place.
Sehome's top runner was Ted Buetow running 16:59. Cedarcrest was third with 125 points, led by London Haley's fifth-place personal best run of 16:42.
The Northwest School's Stephen Bleakley-Harris ran a personal best 15:57.80 to win the individual title, beating out Steilacoom's Cody Goth's time of 16:17.30. Ilwaco's Daniel Quintana was fourth, running 16:41.90.
On the girl's side, Sydney Collier and the Skyline Spartans had a night to remember taking home the individual and team titles in the 4A/3A race. The Spartans scored 90 points in the team standings as Collier clocked in a personal best of 17:57.80 on her way to first place. Teammate Anna Callahan was second running a personal best of 18:19.80.
Paige Gerrard of Snohomish finished in third, running a personal best 18:25. Lincoln's Tali Braester (4th, 18:40.80) and Kamiak's Emma Arceo (5th, 18:47.80) round out the top five individuals.
Lake Stevens scored 118 points to finish in second, led by Alexis Buhman's ninth place personal best run of 19:09.80. Jemma Willcox finished in eighth running 19:08.80 for third place Edmonds-Woodway who scored 146 points.
Top-ranked 2A Anacortes won the 2A/1A/B race scoring 45 points, beating out Northwest Conference opponent Sehome's 74. Jessica Frydenlund won the fourth race of her junior season, clocking a personal best 18:01.1 as the Seahawks' top runner. All five scorers for Anacortes finished within the top 15, including a 10th place finish from Casey Lemrick in a personal best 19:49.30.
Sehome had three runners finish in the top 10 with Kaia Szymczak (19:25.20), Evelyn Buetow (19:36.50), and Hannah Brown (19:44.70) finishing fifth, sixth, and eighth. King's scored 145 points placing third with one runner in the top 10 in Sophia Inglin (7th, 19:43.30).
Meridian's Kayla Aalpoel was the runner-up at 18:30.20, and Cedarcrest's Sonja Blycker was third running 19:11.70.
Teeples Leads Kamiakin to Fourth Sunfair Title in Fives Years
After a record-breaking performance at the Bellevue Invite, Isaac Teeples had his eyes set on another course record at the Sunfair Invite.
However, beating Mead's Matthew Davis untouchable three-mile record time of 14:48, which has stood since 1994, would be a bit of stretch this time around for the Kamiakin's senior final hoorah at Franklin Park.
Teeples clocked in the fastest time of the meet in 15:03 to win the Elite race on the boy's side, defeating Lakes' Cruize Corvin for the second week in a row after matching up with him at Bellevue. Teeples has now won five races this season and hasn't lost a cross country race since 2019.
Along with his win, the Kamiakin boys also secured three more wins from Flights 2, 3, and 6. Grayson Wilcott won Flight 6 in 15:57.18, defeating another Lakes' opponent in Zander Trevino. Jackson Farris won Flight 2 in 17:18.61, and Tanner Mills won Flight 3 in 16:47.26.
The Braves scored 12 points to win the overall team title defeating Eagle of Idaho, who had 24 points. Centennial, also from Idaho, was third, scoring 29 points.
Ellensburg's Kate Laurent won the Elite girls race in a personal course best 18:51.13, becoming the first female athlete from the Central Washington area to win a Sunfair race since the 1994 season. Mead's Alanna Parker was second to Laurent, running 18:58.95.
Mead won the overall girl's title scoring 13 points, and had three victors. The Panthers' winners were Olivia Ferraro in Flight 2, running 20:28.78, Sophia Ferrao in Flight 3 running 20:08.78, and Charlotte Cullen in Flight 5 running 19:53.09.
Eagle and Issaquah tied with 23 points, but second place went to Eagle. Even as a third-place team, Issaquah came away with a first-place finish in Flight 4 as Katherine Yahn ran 19:39.07 for the win.
Gig Harbor Squads Finish Second to Powerhouse Jesuit
Both the Gig Harbor boys and girls teams put up one of their best racing performances of the season, all thanks to one of the best programs in the nation in Jesuit out of Oregon.
The Tide scored 106 points in the boy's Division 1 race and 81 points in the girl's Division 1 race to each place second and were Washington's top teams.
Gig Harbor's top runners were Micah Galeana placing ninth in 15:58.2 in the boy's race, while Reese Morkert ran a personal best 18:39.8 to place sixth overall in the girl's race. Taylor Sletner was another top 10 runner in the girl's race, clocking 19:10.4.
Jesuit placed six runners in the top 10 in the boy's race scoring 21 points to win the team title led by a first-place run of 15:24.8 by Jacob Nenow. In the girl's race, Jesuit had five runners in the top 10 as they scored 20 points. Chloe Forester was the overall top finisher running 17:16 to lead the Crusaders.
Columbia River's Daniel Barna was the fastest Washington individual in the boy's race, clocking in 15:43.1 to finish in fourth. Stadium brothers Jacob and Luke Alfonso were right behind in fifth and sixth, running 15:46.9 and 15:47.3. Woodinville finished third as a team with 122 points.
Peninsula's Hannah Lee placed third in the girl's race as Washington's fastest running 18:26.8. Teammate Elektra Higgins was ninth in a personal best 19:00.7. Rogers' (Puyallup) Eleanor Jepsen placed eighth running 19:03.3. Central Kitsap rounds out the top three teams scoring 87 points.
In the Division 2 races, the Yelm boys held off Liberty (Issaquah) by three points, 97-100. Ryan Lange (16:51.8) and Ethan Coon (17:02.6) represented the Tornados in the top 10, placing fifth and eighth. Even as the second-place team, Liberty got three PR's from their top three runners who finished in the top 10 in Thomas Manson (2nd, 16:40), Mark Stevenson (3rd, 16:46.5), and Ben Archer (9th, 17:10.3).
Central Kitsap's Blake Reynolds won the individual title in a personal best 16:37.6, all while leading the Cougars to a third-place score of 140 points.
Natalie Oathout from Klahowya won the girl's race in a personal best 19:30.8, beating out Columbia River's Hanna Bailey's time of 19:47.1. North Kitsap's Genesi Funston was third running 19:51.8.
Liberty defeated Puyallup for the team title scoring 65 points to the Vikings' 110. Puyallup's Nicole Yanasak (20:13.6) and Lola Woodburn (20:20.7) ran personal best times for the second-place Vikings placing fifth and sixth. Margeret Champlain rounded out the top 10 finishers as Liberty's top runner in a personal best time of 20:42.3.
Wenatchee Continues Hot Streak Picking up Wins at Leavenworth
One of the biggest surprises this season has been the rise of the Wenatchee cross country teams during the first month of the cross country campaign, and they continued their winning ways at a tough Leavenworth Invite.
On the boy's side, the Panthers defeated Eastmont 36-72 and had four runners in the top 10 led by a second-place run from Ian Eifert in 15:40.5 for the hilly 2.8-mile course. Liam Newman (3rd, 15:53.9), Gabe Valazquez (4th, 15:57.4), and Jason Newman (10th, 16:34.2) were among the other Wenatchee runners.
Haly Loewen won the girl's race running 18:51.4 for Wenatchee, leading the Panthers to score 27 points over Eastmont's 57. In total, the Panthers had seven runners finish in the top 15, including five of them in the top 10. Amara Barry (3rd, 19:10.4), Kirsten Jarmin (6th, 19:53.7), Lauren Miller (8th, 20:07.29), and Ava Kiesz (9th, 20:19) were the other top 10 finishers alongside Loewen.
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