East Jefferson runners compete in Curtis XC Invitational

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The East Jefferson Rivals cross country team traveled to the Chambers Bay Golf Course southwest of Tacoma to compete in the 26th John Payne/Curtis XC Invitational event on Saturday,
Oct. 1.

The two-loop, 5K grass course featured two hills with no shade.

The first athlete to race for the Rivals was sophomore Soare Johnston in the boys Division Two varsity race. He ran a bold race in the lead pack to finish ninth out of 278 runners in a personal record (PR) time of 17:25.

Notably, Johnston was also 26 seconds ahead of the next 1A Division runner in his race.

For the girls Division Two varsity race, the top EJ competitor was junior Fiona Fraser, who fininished in fifth place overall, also with a PR of 20:55. Out of the 187 competitors, senior Camryn Hines was eighth overall in 21:23 and junior Tadu Dollarhide was 48th in 23:12.

Junior Aliyah Yearian competed in the girls Division One varsity race, and for the first time this season, was challenged by fellow competitors. The rivalry propelled her to a 21-second personal record of 18:42 and a fifth-place overall finish out of 132 runners. This time put Yearian 52 seconds ahead of the next 1A Division finisher as well as at the top of Port Townsend High’s record list since times started being recorded on athletic.net in 1999.

To finish out the day, the boys and then girls junior varsity open races were contested.

The boys field consisted of 226 athletes and junior Indigo Gould led the EJ team. He had a huge personal record to place 17th overall in a time of 20:15.

Gould was followed by junior rookie Henri Huber who took 20th place in 20:30. Next to finish were freshmen Grady White (78th, PR 22:16.5); Rylen Kruse (79th, PR 22:16.6); Dustin Hines (82nd, PR 22:18); and sophomore Xander Robison (163rd, 25:17).

The girls were led by junior Sylvia Butterfield who was the highest EJ placer of the day, taking third overall in a time of 23:56.

Freshmen Hilina Taylor-Lenz (26:03) and Leah Ferland (26:50) also ran strong races, both setting PRs and taking 18th and 32nd, respectively, in the field of 139 competitors.

The EJ cross country teams’ next event is Thursday, Oct. 8 at Lakewood High School where they will compete in the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational. Following that, they have a home meet at the Port Townsend Golf Course Tuesday, Oct. 18.