Ricks, Hoffer Impress at EvCo Cross Country Championships

Posted

TUMWATER — Lewis and Thurston County were well represented at the 2A Evergreen Cross Country Championships Wednesday, with several runners from the area earning top times. 

On the boys side, Tumwater’s John Hoffer stayed in the front of the pack with Aberdeen’s Julian Campos and Rochester’s Levi Jennings for much of the race, but pulled away late to win the EvCo boys title with a time of 16:14.9. Jennings finished third with a time of 17:01.7.

Other boys runners from the area to finish in the top-10 were Tumwater’s Brenden Hamilton (17:28.1) and Nathan Klingelhoffer (17:36.7), who finished sixth and seventh, and Centralia’s Devin Harrison (17:43.9), who finished ninth overall. 

W.F. West’s Henry Jordan finished 14th with a time of 17:56.3. 



For the girls, the area’s top finisher was Bearcat freshman Mercedes Ricks, who ran a 21:21.9 for third overall, behind two Shelton runners. The rest of the top-10 from the area featured four Tumwater runners, with Rachel Zahn (fourth), Olivia Marty (fifth), Olivia Ahrens (sixth), and Jesse Brumbaugh (ninth) squeezing into the top-10. 

Centralia’s Keira Jones was the Tigers top finisher, running 23:57.2 for 14th place. 

As a team, Tumwater finished first on the boys side, and second on the girls side, barely getting clipped by Shelton for a team EvCo title. 

Next up for the area’s cross country teams is a trip to Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland next Thursday for the District 4 Championships. The top-28 runners from the boys and girls side will advance to the state championships.