Oak Harbor’s cross country teams had a bittersweet day on Thursday. The good news is that the boys team won, the bad is the girls lost by 1 point.

Chris Wichers and Derek Wirth led the boys’ charge, finishing in the 2 and 3 slots over one of the toughest 5000 meter courses in the state. “Hamlin Park has two major hills the kids have to

run twice,” said coach Seth Hodges.

Hodges said the race is as tough mentally as it is physically, and even seasoned runners have been seen almost walking up the major hill on the second loop.

“I knew we came into the race with an advantage, as both Chris and Derek may be two of the most mentally tough runners in the district,” he said.

Coaches have learned to not pay attention to times on the course — only results matter, and the Wildcats managed to get 4 runners in the top 10. This was the first time any Oak Harbor runners have competed on the course.

The Wildcats edged out Mountlake Terrace and beat Arlington and Shorewood.

“Actually, I thought we might have lost the race, as Mountlake Terrace also managed four runners in the top ten,” Hodges said.

Senior Captain Greg Dillard had another solid race as he was able to take 10th in the Wildcats’ victory. The original scoresheet showed Oak Harbor with a one-point win over Terrace, but a disqualification of Terrace’s top runner for cutting the course gave Oak Harbor a 9-point victory.

The boys varsity competes on Saturday at the Kodiak Invitational in Leavenworth.

The girls also performed well, but lost a heartbreaker to host Shorewood by one point.

Jessica Brundidge and Leonila Celestino duplicated the feat of Wichers and Wirth by going 2-3. In both races, host runners of Shorewood won on their home course.

“Jessica surprised everyone as she took the lead from the start,” Hodges said.

For 2.5 miles, Brundidge ran neck-and-neck with Tiffani Passi of Shorewood.

“After watching Tiffani run for the past two years, I knew that if Jessica could outsprint Tiffani if they were together at the finish,” Hodges said.

But it wasn’t to be, as Jessica rolled an ankle with about 800 meters to go.

“We held her out of practices earlier this week to rest the ankle because she also plays in a basketball league during the cross country season,” Hodges explained.

Brundidge toughed it out to hold on to second.

Celestino, who ran almost the entire race alone, was 4 seconds back for 3rd place. Kellie Gamble had a great race for Oak Harbor as she managed to take 20th as the Wildcat’s number 4 runner.

“Kellie’s been out for the past couple of weeks and managed to pass a half-dozen runners over the second loop,” Hodges said. “Having a healthy Kellie for the end of the season will be one of the keys to our team’s success in the post-season.”

The girls are idle this weekend and run again with the boys at the Oak Harbor Invitational next Saturday at Camp Casey.