MOSES LAKE – For the Mavericks, it wasn’t all just sunshine and beaches at the Iolani Cross County Invitational on Saturday, a highly competitive meet bringing teams from across the country to Hawaii. 

Moses Lake’s boys team took ninth out of 30 teams in the championship meet, while the Maverick girls took 12th out of 27 teams. 

“It’s a state atmosphere,” Moses Lake head coach Larry Dagnon said. “You’re racing with the highest quality runners in our region, especially the west coast – there were so many good California schools, a very good Nevada school and then some really quality Hawaii schools. The level of competition, it really allowed to see how we stack up all around.” 

Forty-one Mavericks made the trip to Hawaii, an increase of about 10 runners from the last time Moses Lake made the trip in 2022. The trip is student-funded. 

“There was so much interest, we found a way to pack where we stayed and it was fantastic,” Dagnon said. 

In the past the meet was held at Kualoa Ranch, the filming location of many Hollywood blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Godzilla and Jumanji along with television shows like Lost and Magnum P.I. This year the meet was moved to the Hawaii Country Club, also located on the island of Oahu. A new course brought in different challenges. 

“The challenge was not to overrun the course, not to go too fast in the beginning, or you were going to really be paying for it in the middle between mile one and two-and-a-half,” Dagnon said.  

Pacing the Mavericks in the boys meet was junior Liam O’Shea, who finished the race in 16:34.11 minutes and finished 37th overall out of more than 200 runners. Following the junior were sophomore Duane Zamora (16:57.27), senior Angel Verduzco (16:57.64), junior Sean Brumet (17:10.52), senior Jesse Humpherys (17:16.7), senior Jaciel Valdez (17:46.7), senior Mitchell West (17:53.02) and freshman Lane Christensen (17:55.1). 

“(O’Shea) really had an amazing winter, then he had an amazing spring and then he coupled that with a great summer,” Dagnon said. “His maturity, he’s grown up a lot and worked really hard. He’s done everything the right way this year, and that’s helped him elevate.” 

In the girls race junior Bria Bodenman, who converted from swimming to cross country this season, led the way for Moses Lake with a time of 20:43.14, closely followed by freshman Natalie Vehrs with a time of 20:44.21. Two and three spots behind were sophomores Rachel Nofziger (20:48.85) and Emma Wallace (20:52.17). Freshman Kaytlyn Russell (21:40.21), junior Alexis Feller (21:59.07), senior Rianne Nelson (22:23.42) and sophomore Breanna Bischoff (23:28.45) rounded out the Maverick runners. 

“(Bodenman) takes that toughness she has from swimming those long-distance races, and she just has no quit in her,” Dagnon said. “She’s as tough as can be, and I think that translates very similarly (from swimming).” 

Participating in a competitive meet early in the season leaves Moses Lake with plenty of positive takeaways, Dagnon said.  

“Everything is setting the stage, and these athletes are gaining such valuable experience that when the lights are on, they’re going to show up because they’ve had opportunities,” Dagnon said.” 

Those who didn’t make the trip to Hawaii competed in the Highlander Invitational on Saturday in Spokane, where sophomore Colton Lucero posted Moses Lake’s fourth-fastest finish in a 2.5-mile race in what Dagnon called the “modern era” of the program, dating back to 2009. Lucero, a first-year runner with Moses Lake, finished the race in 14:23.8. 

“We expected that he was going to do well – we didn’t anticipate that on his first-ever two-and-a-half mile, closer to the 3-mile range,” Dagnon said.  

Moses Lake heads to the Apple Ridge Run Invite on Saturday. 

    Moses Lake sophomore Duane Zamora, left in maroon, and senior Angel Verduzco, right in maroon, compete at Saturday’s Iolani Cross Country Invitational in Hawaii.