Shifting gears in the 2021 schedule, Sequim’s Wolves turned to a familiar race at our state’s capital.

Originally set to race at the SK Fall Relay at South Kitsap High, the Wolves instead competed at the Capital Invite in Olympia to open the season after the relay was canceled.

That gave SHS senior Riley Pyeatt, who showed little rust from the offseason layoff, as she placed third among a field of 57 runners, most from much larger schools.

Similarly, teammate Colby Ellefson placed with some of the top sophomore boys in the region with a fourth place finish in his race, finishing in 12:41.39.

Pyeatt, a two-time state 2A competitor, completed the 2.23-mile course at the 27th -annual Olympia race in 13:54.40, just 2.57 seconds back of Kivi Johnson of Lakes.

Kaitlyn Bloomenrader earned a top-10 finish in her first prep cross country meet, placing seventh among 49 runners in the sophomore race with a 16:02.24 finish.

SHS’s Anastasia Updike raced to a 25th place finish in the junior division race, clocking in at 17:21.25 among the 65 11th-graders.

Sequim had a quartet of runners in the girls’ freshman race, with Nikoline Updike placing 40th (19:29.65), Mia Kirner in 46th (21:30.77) and Aspen Goldner in 47th (21:41.97), and Ariana Salas in 65th (27:41.11).

On the boys’ side

In the junior division race, Calem Klinger placed 46th with a 14:49.03, and Mirek Skov placed 61st in 15:34.96.

Sequim saw three freshmen compete at the Capital Invite, with Connor Goff placing 40th (15:55.01), Sean Christopher Wilson placing 44th (15:58.63) and Sean Southard placed 97th (20:13.75) out of 112 competing ninth-graders.

Sequim’s sophomore Owen Tjemsland placed 73rd (17:15.30) and Ari Skov placed 76th in 17:57.28.

Coming up

Sequim is at Bremerton today, Sept. 15.

The Wolves are then in Port Angeles meets back-to-back, competing at the Salt Creek Invitational on Sept. 18 and in a league match-up on Sept. 22.

The Wolves’ lone home meet is set for Sept. 29, with opponent to be announced.