The Rivals Boys and Girls Cross Country teams competed in the 1A District Championships in the Westside Classic at Chambers Bay Golf Course November 2. The 5k grass course was damp from recent precipitation with many stretches of soggy wet mud. Many athletes wore spiked racing shoes for improved traction. Conditions for the races were cool and sunny with a breeze.

The girls raced first with a 10:35 start time. Klahowya easily captured the team race with a total score of 19 points to Cascade Christian’s 66. The East Jefferson girls team placed 3rd with 70 points, just missing a State Championship berth by four points. However, all three Rival juniors successfully raced to individual qualifying spots to the upcoming championship meet. Hilina Taylor-Lenz (9th, 22:29) led the trio with an incredibly focused race moving up through the field of 38 throughout the entire race. Assistant Coach Ian Fraser noted that Taylor-Lenz was “absolutely locked in and ready to do her job” at the meet. She was followed by Leah Ferland (10th, 22:34) and Michael Gregg (13th, 23:40). Although not qualifying to move on, sophomore Clara Camp ran a fantastic race and set a new personal record (PR), placing 20th in 24:56. Fellow sophomore Kaida Rodrigues narrowly missed a PR running 28:26 and placing 32nd.

The boys race of 59 athletes was at 11:35 and ended with a much tighter distribution of team scores. Vashon Island won with 59 points, Annie Wright was second with 63, and the Rivals were third with 67. The boys division had three team berths to the State Championships this year, so the EJ team qualified as a team. They were again led by sophomore Joshua Yearian who pushed himself extremely hard during the competition. He placed 4th overall in a time of 17:01. He was followed by sophomore Noah Isenberg (6th, 17:17), junior Dustin Hines (16th, 18:01), freshman Rainier Smith Williams (21st, PR 18:21), and sophomore Nico Errichetti (23rd, 18:22) to complete the scoring five. Notably Hines, Smith Williams, and Errichetti all moved up substantially, passing over 10 runners apiece in the second half of the race to take the team from a 5th place standing to its eventual 3rd place finish. Freshman Zeke Banks (31st, 18:43) and sophomore Kepler Edmundson (45th, 20:01) were the 6th and 7th runners for the Rivals.

The state qualifiers will travel to the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco, WA to compete in the 1A State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 9.

Rivals race at Bradley Lake Park

Select members of the Rivals cross country teams traveled to Bradley Lake Park to compete in the JV PR Meet October 28. The two mile course was a mixture of grass and pavement leading to some fast times. Races were run by grade starting with the freshman. In that race, Zeke Banks was the first EJ athlete, finishing in 8th place overall with a time of 11:07. He was followed by Max Naumann (22nd, 12:07), Addison Tipton (24th, 12:31), and Oliver Johnson (39th, 14:18).

The sophomore boys race featured 38 athletes with EJ runners taking 10th and 11th places overall. Atom Barrett led teammate Kepler Edmundson in a close race to finish in 11:12 and 11:17 respectively. Sophomore Clara Camp was the only female Rival to compete. She garnered the highest placing of any EJ athlete at the meet placing 6th overall in a time of 14:14.

Team captain Alex Lott was the last Rival to compete at the meet, running in the senior race. He ran 15:03 to place 25th overall in his culminating race of a four year cross country career.

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