Rochester High School’s Gunnar Morgan demolished his previous personal record by 38 seconds to claim second place at the Return of the Salmon Invite in Osprey Park in 16 minutes, 1.90 seconds on Saturday afternoon.
Morgan finished over 10 seconds behind winner Justyn Peterhans of Bellevue Christian. The senior ran sub-16:30 for the first time in his career and notched his second straight top-three finish. Hunter Young and Lodun Coombs finished 28th and 51st, respectively, for the Warriors.
On the girls side, Rochester had just one runner cross the finish line in sophomore Seraschel Aldrich, placing 21st in 24:33.50.
Knight best finisher for Wolves
Even by running 2.8 miles instead of the traditional 3.1, Black Hills freshman Maddie Knight continued her assertion as its top runner after an 18th place finish at Saturday’s Leavenworth Invite held at Ski Hill.
Knight’s time of 21:42.10 was the third best among freshmen. Averie Reynolds secured a 37th place performance in just under 23 minutes while the rest of the Wolves’ five best runners finished in the top-75.
Freshman Seth Thomasson placed 47th in 18:16 flat for the boys. Black Hills’ other four runners in its varsity lineup claimed finishes between 110th and 133rd.
Cardinals place eighth in loaded boys field
Behind a 30th place finish from Xavier Sancho-Carrillo, Winlock High School’s boys cross country team totaled 206 points to finish eighth in the team race at Saturday’s Jack and Jill Invitational held at Lake Sacajawea.
Sancho-Carrillo’s time of 19:22.10 set a new lifetime best by a second. Jacob Trodhal, Oscar Silvestre and Mason Ruiz finished in the top-50, all running sub-21 minutes. Meanwhile, Onalaska’s Austin Sturza was 33rd in 19:35.60 while teammates Logan Sturza and Ben Stingley placed inside the top-70. Napavine’s Landon Engelbertson placed 49th in 20:47.50.
On the girls side, Winlock had the two best finishers in Victoria Sancho and Natalie Cardneas-Hernandez. Sancho, a state medalist as a sprinter in track and field, secured 22nd in 24:25 flat while Cardenas-Hernandez placed 29th. Senior Kyndra Foler finished 59th.
Onalaska’s two varsity runners – Maddy Hanson and Lilly Miller – crossed the finish line in 53rd and 60th, respectively.
