ROYAL CITY — The Wahluke High School girls and boys cross country teams are off to a brilliant start in South Central A Conference East competition.

They are 2-0 after knocking of Kiona-Benton and Naches last week.

The girls followed that up with a seventh place finish in the their division at the Twilight Invitational in Marysville on Saturday.

Competing at home over their 5000-meter course, the boys, led by senior Lalo Valdenea, took control of the race after the first mile. They went on to defeat Kiona-Benton, 26-30, and narrowly edge, Naches, 27-28.

Valdenea ran a time of 18:02 and was followed by Manny Hidalgo and Angel Abarca, both of whom were competing for the first time over the 5k distance.

The girls easily handled the competition, defeating the Kiona-Benton girls, 24-33, and downing Naches Valley, 15-45. Led by senior Stephanie Juarez and sophomore Jessica Arellano, the girls pulled away about halfway through the race.

Juarez posted a time of 21:06, and Arellano broke 22:00 for the first time, clocking 21:59. Sophomore Alma Velasco, senior Guadalupe Abarca, and freshman Stephanie Valdespino rounded out the varsity scorers.

Saturday the team traveled to Marysville to compete in the Twilight Invitational. The boys were led by sophomore Angel Abarca, who ran a personal best 19:16, followed and by sophomore Alberto Zapien.

Personal bests were also set by first-time varsity runners freshman Brayan Santiago, sophomore Hector Cruz and freshman Ezequiel Rodriguez.

The girls started showing their distance running muscle with a strong seventh-place finish amidst the larger schools in attendance. Senior Stephanie Juarez set a new personal best, leading the girls team in 20:43 over the 5000m course.

Sophomore Alma Velasco followed Juarez just one minute later in 21:43 as she shaved 1:50 off her time. Then sophomore Jessica Arellano came in at 22:50. Senior Guadalupe Abarca was the 4th runner in 23:08 and freshman Stephanie Valdespino was the 5th runner in 23:13. Both of them ran more a minute faster than their previous bests.

Personal bests were also run by varsity newcomer Jennifer Navarrete, in 24:18 (two minutes faster) and Marivel Nevarez in 25:54 (breaking 26:00 for the first time).

The Wahluke teams will compete in Goldendale this week against Goldendale and Connell in a SCAC double dual. On Saturday they will compete at the Richland Invitational.