Moses Lake High School hosted teams at Blue Heron Park Saturday for the opening cross country meet of the season for the NCW Region. Forty-nine boys and 19 girls competed in the two-mile event.

Ephrata took three of the top four spots for the boys. Hayden Roberts nabbed the first place finish with a time of 11:05. Hans Roberts of Ephrata placed second, and Hayden Malone took fourth place for the Tigers behind Miguel Nunez of Oroville. Josue Sanchez and Maxwell Hewitt finished 10th and 11th for Ephrata. Skyler Hinkey, Lain Wurl, Dillon Raine and Hunter Keen also finished in the top 25.

Moses Lake’s Devon Taylor finished fifth with 11:58 while teammate Makota Miura finished just behind him. Chiefs Jack O’Shea, Dal Dagnon, Ian Allred and Jamisen Stuart all finished in the top 25 as well.

Quincy’s Levi Kukes took 18th, while Israel Perez finished just outside the top 25, at 26th.

Liberty Bell’s Leki Albright took the top finish for the girls, beating second-place Alexa Laughlin of Ephrata by nearly 34 seconds.

Moses Lake’s Paige Perkins and Sylvie Gephart finished third and fourth respectively. Ephrata’s Camdyn Cox placed fifth followed by three Chiefs runners, Katelynn Lustig, Marissa Bischoff and Ambar Salas.

uincy’s Bridget Jones and Moses Lake’s Ashlee Scheel rounded out the top 10.

Royal High School also hosted a home meet Saturday at Royal Golf Course, with Wenatchee runners taking the top three spots in the boys event. Royal’s Joaquin Meza and Abraham Montoya finished eighth and ninth in the two-mile event.

Knights Fernando Alvarado, Alexis Diaz and Clinton Garnick finished 13th through 16th. Soap Lake’s Justin Hampton took the top spot for his squad, finishing at 25th.

On the girls’ side, McKenna White took the first-place finish for Wenatchee, separating herself from second-place Lexi LaDoux of Okanogan by nearly 30 seconds. Royal’s Sydney Burke took fifth in the home event on Saturday, with teammate Kenia Orth finishing at eighth.

Royal’s Sydney Gilbert also finished in the top half, at 13th.