SPOKANE — Local cross country teams found success over the weekend as athletes from Ephrata, Moses Lake, Othello and Warden travelled to Spokane to compete in the Nike Bob Firman Invitational. See below how each team did.

Ephrata 

After a successful Central Washington Athletic Conference League meet Thursday with both the boys and girls winning, the Tigers were ready to continue their weekend of competition at the Bob Firman Invite. 

“Racing at Bob Firman gave our athletes a glimpse of what districts and state will feel like," said Tigers Head Coach Lyndsy Roberts. "They enjoyed the big races and strong competition.  In a lot of ways they left Spokane excited about what the sport can be and what is ultimately possible through hard work.”

With just a day of rest in between meets to work with, Ephrata headed into Saturday with confidence and had multiple runners finish in the top 20 of Division 1 Section 1 5k races. 

The boys team finished D1 MERGE in 26th overall with a point total of 656. Tigers junior Caleb Fitts (15:36.7) had a very successful race, taking first in the D1 race and finishing ahead of second place by 17.1 seconds.  

“Caleb had an incredible race," said Roberts. "He ran fearless and pushed his limits in the back half of the race to earn the win.  It wasn’t just that he won, but he did all the little things so well.  From his mental prep to his race strategy to his finishing grit; he put it all together.”

The girls team claimed ninth overall in the D1 MERGE with a score of 307. Ephrata senior Abigail Chamberlain (19:04.01) was the top runner for the girls and finished fifth in the MERGE and second in Section 1. 

“Abigail competed in a strong pack of three girls for the majority of the race," said Roberts. "She was tested again and again and responded each time.  This big race experience is going to help her in her postseason racing.  Really fun to watch her finish and I know she has even faster times still in store for future races.”

Savannah Harper, a junior, was also a top contender for the Tigers, finishing 39th in the MERGE and 15th in Section 1. 

The Tigers head to Sunfair Invitational this Saturday at Franklin Park in Yakima at 9 a.m. 

Moses Lake  

The Mavericks showed not only the talent they possess at the top of their lineup, but also the depth that trickles all the way down to the junior varsity squad. The varsity first team for the boys and girls competed in the Elite Division race, with the boys finishing 24th and the girls 20th.  

On the boys' side, Lane Christensen (15:51.2) put together a personal best performance, finishing 74th in a field of over 260 runners from all over the Pacific Northwest. Not only was this performance good enough for a personal best, but it also broke the Moses Lake school record for the 5K.  

“He's been really fun because he (turned) out as a freshman for us, and he took some lumps that freshman year, but he didn't let it shake him at all,” Head Coach Larry Dagnon said. “The stage was never too big for him, and he puts in a lot of time to perfect his craft. To say I'm surprised that he took our number one spot, I'm not. Almost anyone on this current varsity team is going to vie for our top record at some point in their career, and I’m pretty excited about that.”  

Alongside Christensen, Maxwell Jolley, Liam Roseburg, Colton Lucero, Jonathan Sandoval, Noah Demchuk and Gabriel Cabiao all set new personal bests.  

The girls didn’t slack either, with Rachel Nofziger leading the way in the Women's Elite Division 5K. Her time of 18:55.9 helped her take 69th in a field of 235 runners, which also moved her to second on MLHS’ all-time girls 5K times, Dagnon said.  

In addition to Nofziger, Aspen Hoenes, Amelia Olascon, Natalie Vehrs, Emily Bong, Kaytlyn Russell and Khloe Helm put in a strong mix of personal and season bests.  

The boys and girls junior varsity runners competed in the varsity races and showed they belonged. The boys saw five runners turn out sub-18-minute times with Gillis Ward-Guthrie leading the way with a personal best 17:15.9.  

Out of the seven runners in the girls varsity race, six set personal bests. 

“They all put in so much work and it's just so exciting to watch them achieve,” Dagnon said. “Of the modern-day records, it's really fun to watch the kids get in there and be in the top (times). Their work ethic really shows. Stuff just falls into place with hard work, and that's the one thing that we've always said: if you will do the work and trust the process and the program and be consistent, that lots of good things will happen.” 

The Mavericks now turn their focus to the rest of the season, starting with the Sunfair Invitational on Oct. 3 at Franklin Park in Yakima. Detailed results of the Mavericks performance at the Bob Firman Invitational are below.  

Othello 

The Othello Huskies had a great showing at the invitational and Huskies Head Coach David Maldonado said 16 out of the 19 athletes who attended the meet had new personal records and three had season bests. He also highlighted the privilege it was for this team to experience a meet that featured over 120 schools. 

"Just to see that massive amount of people all in one setting there for one shared hobby," said Maldonado. "Just able to network with different coaches about different opportunities from the west side that I took back to my athletic director, the students, making friends and networking. That's what this sport is all about and it's beautiful that it just brings so many people together." 

This being Maldonado's first season as the head coach, he said the ability to network and gain firsthand experience from other coaches was invaluable for both him and his assistant coach Rueben Lopez.  

The Huskies had a few key standouts from the weekend with the first being from freshman Bradley Miranda Lopez (20:38) who finished 127th in the boys freshman category.  

Maldonado said Miranda Lopez joined the team two weeks into the season because he had friends who were running for cross country. Since then he has developed into the team's number seven runner. 

"This guy's come out of nowhere and run a 20:38 at the Nike Bob Firman and he honestly wasn't even trying that hard," said the coach. "We talked to him (Monday) about, 'Hey, if you really focus and you really concentrate, cross country could become your main sport.'" 

Another freshman that Maldonado highlighted was Hermione Policarpio (21:51.9) who finished 13th out of 67 in the Girls Freshman category. He said Hermione typically races behind her sister Betsy Policarpio, a junior, but at the Bob Firman invite he had her race individually. 

"I had her experience what it's like to be a fast freshman competing in a league of girls in her age group," said Maldonado. "At practice we don't have a lot of girls, so she can only really judge based off where the boys are and her sister. I wanted her to run a race without her sister so she can see that on her own, she is really good." 

The Huskies next meet will be at the Sunfair Invitational at Franklin Park in Yakima this Saturday at 9 a.m. The Huskies will also be hosting their Harvest Hustle cross country fundraiser Oct. 17. 

Warden 

The Warden Cougars high school athletes competed in the JV category and as a team they finished 40th.  

"My athletes are getting a lot closer to meeting their goals," said Cougars Head Coach Karla Banks. "I have a couple of athletes that had time goals and they're almost achieving them at this moment. I'm super excited about that." 

Top runners from their group were freshman Kieren McPartland (18:37.2), senior LJ Beavers (20:03.0), senior Aiden Castro (22:56.8) and junior Soren Clausen, 23:44.1. 

Warden's middle school athletes also worked hard and were competitive at the Nike invite. 

On the sixth-grade side, Axel Clausen (14:58.2) took 37th, Lincoln Leavitt (21:33.9) took 50th and Jesse Jones (26:01.5) took 54th. For seventh and eighth grades Jace Hernandez (13:54.5) took 71st, Carlos Hernandez (14:31.3) took 76th and the lone girl runner Kayleen Hopkins (20:50.1) took 100th. 

"The (Nike) meet is a much larger meet so they were surrounded by many athletes," said Banks. "They were able to get the electricity or that fire from everybody around them and use it to fuel them to their very best race." 

The Cougars will be hosting their next meet at Sage Hills Golf Club on Thursday at 4 p.m. 

RESULTS:  

PR – Personal record 

SB – Season best 

EPHRATA – Girls Varsity DI MERGE –9th  

5 – Abigail Chamberlain, 19:04.1 

39 – Savannah Harper, 20:05.6 

73 – Zoie Grubb, 20:39.9 

96 – Rebecca Wiser, 20:58.9 

129 – Hannah Malone, 21:41.0 

232 – Annabelle Adams, 23:52.1 

Ephrata - Boys Varsity DI MERGE - 26th 

1 – Caleb Fitts, 15:36.7 

98 – Seve Molitor, 17:10.5 

145 – Caleb Schooler, 17:25.2 

227 – Mitchell Johnson, 18:05.8 

232 – Mike Jimenez, 18:07.5 

245 – Samuel Goldy, 18:15.4 

249 – Louden Leenouts, 18:20.5 

MOSES LAKE – Women's 5k Elite Division – 20th  

69 – Rachel Nofziger, 18:55.9 (PR) 

114 – Aspen Hoenes, 19:35.3 (SB) 

127 – Amelia Olascon, 19:45.5 (PR) 

129 – Natalie Vehrs, 19:46.7 (SB) 

138 – Emily Bong, 19:52.2 (PR) 

149 – Kayltyn Russell, 20:02.1 (SB) 

167 – Khloe Helm, 20:17.1 (PR) 

MOSES LAKE – Men's 5k Elite Division – 24th  

74 – Lane Christensen, 15:51.2 (PR) 

100 – Maxwell Jolley, 16:05.7 (PR) 

119 – Liam Roseburg, 16:13.2 (PR) 

128 – Colton Lucero, 16:15.1 (PR) 

176 – Jonathan Sandoval, 16:36.3 (PR) 

213 – Noah Demchuk, 16:59.0 (PR) 

233 – Gabriel Cabiao, 17:17.1 (PR)  

MOSES LAKE -  Women's 5K Varsity Division M-Z – 13th  

59 – Sarah Humphreys, 20:55.6  

67 – Alexa Landeros, 21:07.0 (PR) 

69 – Jocelyn Anderson, 21:11.4 (PR) 

71 – Charlotte Chesley, 21:11.8 (PR) 

75 – Emma Wallace, 21:17.1 (SB) 

86 – Aleyah Loera, 21:42.9 (PR) 

136 – Danielle Barnett, 23:14.7 (PR) 

MOSES LAKE – Men's 5K Varsity Division M-Z – 18th  

66 – Gillis Ward-Guthrie, 17:15.9 (PR) 

76 – Graham Larkin, 17:19.7 (PR) 

103 – Duane Zamora, 17:41.1 (SB) 

111 – Benjamin Bishop, 17:46.4 (PR) 

113 – Owen Martel, 17:47.2 (PR) 

126 – Vincent Hunt, 17:59.8 (PR) 

145 – Keenan Russell, 18:24.1 (PR) 

OTHELLO – Girls Varsity DI MERGE 

115 – Betsy Policarpio, 21:24.6 

OTHELLO – Freshman Girls 

13 – Hermione Policarpio, 21:51.9 

OTHELLO – Girls JV Sec2 

98 – Sarah Vazquez, 28:56.8 

OTHELLO – Boys Varsity DI MERGE 

69 – Carlos De la Cruz, 16:53.3 

256 – Xavier Guzman, 18:25.8 

264 – Conner Gilbert, 18:30.6 

OTHELLO – Freshman Boys 

113- Omar Santos, 20:00.2 

127 – Bradley Miranda Lopez, 20:38.0 

157 – Enrique Figueroa, 21:58.7 

OTHELLO – Boys JV MERGE – 47th  

426 – David Sanchez, 21:27.5 

470 – Nathaniel Flores, 22:30.1 

493 – Jacob Gonzalez-Pineda, 23:18.6 

498 – Pedro Justo-Bahena, 23:32.4 

502 – Bayron Olmedo, 23:41.8 

530 – Fernando Gonzalez, 25:00.7 

531 – Xzyyvn Martinez, 25:05.5 

549 – Alexander Olmedo, 26:31.1 

OTHELLO – Boys Varsity Division II 

119 – Jayden Gilbert, 20:11.7 

131 – Deniel Mendoza, 20:50.3 

WARDEN – Boys JV MERGE – 40th 

140 – Kieren McPartland, 18:37.2 

302 – LJ Beavers, 20:03.0 

482 – Aiden Castro, 22:56.8 

505 – Soren Clausen, 23:44.1 

525 – Emanuel Sandoval, 24:27.6 

571 – David DeLeon, 32:16.9 

575 – Enrique Gutierrez, 40:23.2 

WARDEN – Boys sixth grade 

37 – Axel Clausen, 14:58.2 

50 – Lincoln Leavitt, 21:33.9 

54 – Jesse Jones, 26:01.5 

WARDEN – Boys seventh/eighth grade 

71 – Jace Hernandez, 13:54.5 

76 – Carlos Hernandez, 14:31.3 

WARDEN – Girls seventh/eighth grade 

100 – Kayleen Hopkins, 20:50.1 

    Ephrata's girls cross country team stands together for a team photo as they celebrate their overall ninth-place finish.
  

    From left: Graham Larkin, Gillis Ward-Guthrie, Keenan Russell, Vince Hunt, Owen Martel, Ben Bishop and Duane Zamora are all smiles after their performance at the Bob Firman cross country invitational.
  

    Huskies Head Coach David Maldonado, freshman Hermione Policarpio and Assistant Coach Reuben Lopez take a photo together after Policarpio finished with a time of 21:51.9 at the Nike Bob Firman Invitational.
  

    The Othello cross country team gathers for a team photo ahead of their competition in Spokane.