Rivals cross country teams’ season kicks off

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The East Jefferson Rivals boys and girls cross country teams started off the season at a good pace, competing against their peers in Silverdale and participating in the 43rd annual South Whidbey Carl Westling Invite over this past week.

Starting with Silverdale, EJ’s teams made their way to Klahowya Secondary School last Tuesday to run a 5-kilometer course with their Nisqually League opponents.

A total of 79 boys from Annie Wright School, Klahowya Secondary School, Charles Wright Academy, Seattle Christian Academy, Bellevue Christian School, Vashon Island High, Cascade Christian School, Life Christian Academy, and the Rivals participated in the boys race.

Senior and team captain Sebastian Manza finished in first to lead EJ’s boys to a fourth-place finish overall.

Junior Indigo Gould came in 29th and freshman Grady White came in 34th in his first-ever high school competition.

The Rivals girls team came in second overall, spearheaded by junior Aliyah Yearian who earned first place after a long summer off-season of training to set her personal best record in the first meet of the season. She finished a whopping 49 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Team captain Camryn Hines and junior Tadu Dollarhide finished in third and fifth, respectively, to aid the Rivals in their second-place finish.

Moving to Saturday’s cross country action, the Rivals made their way to Whidbey Island for the annual South Whidbey Carl Westling Invite, with the girls finishing in fourth despite missing one of their top five runners.

With Dollarhide out, the girls took the 5k race full steam ahead as Yearian dominated the field yet again to earn the top spot individually.

Hines and junior Fiona Fraser earned a spot in the top 10 with eighth- and ninth-place performances. Though she compromised her own race, freshman Leah Ferland earned a victory of morality by stopping to aid a fellow runner who had passed out during the 5k race. After getting help for the runner, Ferland was able to finish the race.

While it didn’t help the scorecards, Ferland’s display of sportsmanship and compassion was impressive in its own way.

On the boys’ side, EJ placed 14th out of 16 in the event. The boys were missing some of their squad, but sophomore Soare Johnston had a great run, finishing 12th out of 114 competitors to earn a spot on the podium. 

Freshman Grady White was the second EJ runner to finish, placing 93rd. Gould finished in 95th.

The Rivals will have a short break before returning to action as they come back Sept. 27 at Vashon Island High School on a 5k running course against their Nisqually League competition.