The East Jefferson Rivals cross country team traveled to Bellingham to compete in their season opener on Saturday, Sept 14. The Gear Up XC Northwest Preview was hosted by Sehome High School and took place in the area surrounding Civic Stadium. Conditions were cool with occasional showers, near perfect for racing.

The two-mile course was narrow and congested leading to falls for three EJ runners, but no serious injuries. The competition featured 49 schools ranging from 1B-4A and races were organized by grade and gender. There were three additional junior varsity (JV) boys races prior to the class races due to the large number of competitors. 

The first race for EJ athletes was the 10:55 am JV boys 3 race in which freshmen Oliver Johnson, sophomores Luci Sarti and Nathan Ericson, and senior Alex Lott competed. Post race, team captain Lott warned teammates to be careful of the sharp, slippery grass turn as well as the short gravel hill. In a field of 108, Sarti was the top EJ competitor in the race with a place of 31st and a time of 13:00.

In the freshman boys race, the Rivals debuted Zeke Banks (29th, 11:56), Max Naumann (110th, 13:46), and Addison Tipton (119th, 13:55). Assistant coach Ian Fraser noted that despite the crowded field of 150 athletes, the freshmen were able to hold their own and post a good start to their season.

The sophomore boys race, which had the largest field of the day with 169 runners also had the highest EJ finishes of the day with Joshua Yearian taking 12th overall in a time of 10:47. Noah Isenberg was one place behind (13th), in a time of 10:52. Nico Errichetti (63rd, 12:00), Atom Barrett (77th, 12:18), and Kepler Edmundson (126th, 13:07) rounded out the sophomore squad. This was the only race in which the Rivals had the minimum of 5 runners to constitute a team and they placed sixth out of 17.

Junior EJ girls had a strong showing in their race with Leah Ferland leading the trio with a 29th place finish in the field of 156 with a time of 14:02. She was followed by Hilina Taylor-Lenz (31st, 14:03) and Michael Gregg (54th, 14:56). Notably, Taylor-Lenz posted a one minute and forty second improvement over her time at last year’s event.

In the final race of the day for Rival athletes, junior Dustin Hines competed against 134 other runners to clinch a 51 place finish in a time of 11:52.

Upcoming competitions for the cross country team include a home meet on Thursday, Sept. 17, and the PLU Invitational on Saturday, Sept 21.

Alice Fraser is the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for the East Jefferson Rivals.