A strong performance at the Western Conference North cross country championships in Smokey Point left the Oak Harbor boys in a solid third place on Saturday.

“The Oak Harbor guys ran really well as a team,” head coach Eric Peterson said. “The coaches are excited to have four of the top five runners earn league honors.”

The Wildcats narrowly missed second place, putting up 68 points. Only Snohomish (41) and Lake Stevens (64) were better.

Sophomore Kyle King, a Coupeville student, led the Wildcats with a third place overall finish at 16 minutes, 38 seconds.

“It has been incredible to watch him develop as the season progresses and run so well as a sophomore,” Peterson said. “He has really worked hard in practice, always pushing to get better and stronger and it is paying off.”

Joey Bywater of Lake Stevens won the 3.1-mile race in 16:13.

Other Oak Harbor runners finishing in the top 15 were David Marriott in 10th, Henry Vasquez in 12th and Josh Dix in 14th.

The Wildcat girls finished in seventh place out of nine teams without their top runner, Jessica Brundidge.

Oak Harbor put up 200 points followed by Cascade (210) and Mount Vernon (211). Snohomish won the event with 19 points.

Megan Hall had the best finish for the Wildcats, ending in 24th at 21:46. Other finishing in the top 50 were Christina Lafferty (43), Elizabeth Page (44), Stephanie Allison (45) and Michelle Sandstrom (51).

Peterson expects Brundidge, who had a sore hip muscle, to return to the district meet this Saturday, Oct. 29 at South Whidbey High School.

“We are looking forward to her being healthy for District and having a good performance,” he said.