Girls XC: Bearcat Freshman Mercedes Ricks Captures Dual Meet

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W.F. West freshman phenom Mercedes Ricks continued her tear to start the girls cross country season, easily outdistancing the competition for the individual victory in a dual meet with Centralia on Wednesday at Stan Hedwall Park.

After ending up as the Bearcats’ top finisher at the Capital Invite on Saturday with a fourth-place finish in the freshman girls race, Ricks defeated runner-up and teammate Elaina Koenig by 27 seconds on Wednesday to win the girls race at Stan Hedwall with a time of 22:31.57. Koenig was second with 22:58.29.

“It feels good,” Ricks said. “It feels like I could have gone a little harder.”

Other finishers included:

  • Keira Jones, third, Centralia, 24:42.39    
  • Cadence Edminster, fourth, W.F. West, 25:18.40    
  • Ruth Gonzalez, fifth, Centralia, 26:05.53    
  • Lia Hornby, sixth, W.F. West, 26:48.11    
  • Jaelynn Viall, seventh, W.F. West, 27:02.70    
  • Kaitlin Elmore, eighth, W.F. West, 32:26.77    
  • Hailey Isenhower, ninth, W.F. West, 33:17.13    
  • Peyton Hile, 10th, Centralia, 34:41.02   

W.F. West next competes with Black Hills at Aberdeen on Sept. 22. Centralia joins Rochester and Shelton for a meet in Tumwater on Sept. 22.