Cross country: Sequim girls are top 2A team at home meet

The Sequim girls cross country team fared well in the Wolves’ lone regular season home course meet, held at the Dungeness Recreation Area’s Voice of America layout on Sept. 20.

The Wolves were the top Class 2A Olympic League team at the meet, totaling 77 points to edge Kingston (86). Bainbridge ran away with the team win with 52 points.

Sequim junior Dawn Hulstedt led the way for the Wolves in the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) opener for most schools, finishing third with a time of 21 minutes, 32.02 seconds.

Senior teammate Kaitlyn Bloomenrader was next in fourth (22:04.87) for Sequim.

Other Wolves competitors included junior Lilly Despain, 20th (25:48.37), Aspen Goldner, 23rd (26:20.54), Birdie Pyeatt, 29th (26:43.10) and Krista Charters, 35th (27:43.43).

Port Angeles sophomore Leia Larson placed fifth individually (22:26.39) as the Roughriders finished fifth as a team.

Larson was joined in the top 10 by freshman teammate Miriam Cobb, who placed eighth in 22:54.76.

Faerin Tait finished 19th in 24:49.97 for Port Angeles, Evian Moniz was 47th in 31:09.83, Mirabel Palacios ended up 49th in 31:12.10 and Brenna Hedtke came in 59th in 37:56.01.

“This is one of our ‘sneaky hard’ courses, where there is a long, low-gradient uphill section, followed by rolling hills towards the finish,” Port Angeles coach Rodger Johnson said. “It challenges all runners, and our kids ran their hearts out today. As their first 5K of this year, it will be a benchmark for improvement throughout the season.”

Port Angeles finished fifth with 107 points and

Sequim’s boys, racing without top runner Colby Ellefson who is nursing an injury, placed seventh with 163 points.

Sequim’s Solas McGruther was the top Wolves runner in 28th with a time of 20:27.91. Other Sequim runners were Adrian Osborne, 29th in 20:31.85; Reid Randall, 31st in 20:33.6; Malachi Byrne, 35th in 20:51.89; Ari Skov, 40th in 21:49.63 and Owen Tjemsland, 43rd in 23:10.72.

Sequim is at Bremerton on Sept. 27 and the 27th John Payne XC Invitational in University Place on Sept. 30.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim High senior Kaitlyn Bloomenrader races to a fourth place finish at an Olympic League cross country meet in Sequim on Sept. 20.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Solas McGruther races in an Olympic League cross country meet in Sequim on Sept. 20. McGruther was the top Wolf in the competition, finishing in xxxx place.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Lilly Despain races in an Olympic League cross country meet in Sequim on Sept. 20.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Competitors in a combined varsity-junior varsity girls race break from the starting line at an Olympic League meet in Sequim on Sept. 20.