TONASKET – Though lineups were depleted by athletes committed to the Okanogan County Fair, Tonasket hosted its season-opening cross country meet on Saturday, Sept. 8, with 74 runners competing.
Republic sophomore Duncan Forsman won the boys race, finishing the hilly 2.8 mile course in 16:19.
Sierra Speiker ran unchallenged from the start in the girls race, finishing in 17:53.
Republic also won the boys team title with 27 points, easily getting past Omak (59). Chelan (75) was third, Tonasket (88) fourth and Lake Roosevelt (126) fifth, while Oroville didn’t field a full team.
Omak (23) beat Chelan (34) for the girls’ trophy.
Oscar Avilez led Tonasket’s boys with a third place finish in 17:08, his PR for the course. Sophomore Adam Halvorsen (13th) cut 2:29 off his previous best on the course with a time of 18:21. Also finishing for the Tigers were Lawrence Wambugu (19th, 19:17), Adrian McCarthy (26th, 20:22), Ivan Rios (31st, 21:39), Smith Condon (32nd, 21:56) and Abe Podkranic (33rd, 24:21). Condon shaved four minutes off last year’s time.
Ruben Renfro finished 15th in 18:34 for Oroville.
Speiker had hoped to challenge her course record (17:30) set last year, but was unchallenged in winning the race by nearly three minutes.
Also competing for the Hornets were Aya Cruspero (24th, 34:16) and Celene Cisneros (25th, 34:23).
Finishing for Tonasket were Jessica Puente (10th, 22:58), Jenna Valentine (17th, 24:45), Claire Thornton (19th, 25:38) and Vanessa Pershing (20th, 28:31).
Full results for the meet are posted at athletic.net.
Oroville and Tonasket both compete at the Moses Lake Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15.
Tonasket’s Lawrence Wambugu (left) and Oroville’s Ruben Renfro reach the highest point of the Tigers’ home cross country course during Saturday’s meet. Brent Baker / staff photo
Claire Thornton (left) and Jenna Valentine competed at the Tonasket Invitational. Brent Baker / staff photo
Oroville’s “out of this world” cross country standout Sierra Speiker won the Tonasket Invitational by nearly three minutes on Saturday, Sept. 8. Brent Baker / staff photo
