The Oak Harbor High School girls cross country team placed third and the boys ninth in the 21-team North County Invitational at the Cedarcrest Golf Course in Marysville Thursday, Oct. 13.
Snohomish won both 5,000-meter races, taking the girls with 17 points, followed by Stanwood with 23 and Oak Harbor with 30.
The Panthers scored 30 in winning the boys contest; Oak Harbor tallied 65.
The runners were divided into races by graduating class, and the best five places determined the team scores.
Christina Wicker placed second among junior girls (19:09.78), Alex Laiblin was fifth among the sophomores (20:15.38), Heather Dale (19:59.02) and Hannah Bressler went 5-8 among the seniors and Jonalynn Horner finished 10th among the freshmen.
Scoring for the Wildcat boys were John Rodeheffer (second, freshmen, 17:07.96), Dakota Powers (17th, freshmen, 18:29.01), Stephen Miller (19th, sophomores, 18:07.82), Clayton Richardson (22nd, sophomores, 18:14.35) and Josh Schrum (fifth, seniors, 16:30.29).
Coach Eric Peterson said all of his troops ran well and most set personal records, with Wicker, Dale, Laiblin, Schrum and Rodeheffer running exceptionally well.
The Wildcats now have their sites on the Western Conference North championship meet Saturday, Oct. 22, at Lakewood High School at Smokey Point.
Other Oak Harbor results:
Freshman boys (108 runners): 25, Joel Erickson, 18:55.94.
Sophomore boys (91): 26, Nathan Wagner, 18:19.33; 30, Esai Cunningham, 18:37.01; 45, Brandon Bristow, 19:22.68; 50, Alexander Krantz, 19:41.13.
Junior boys (106): 24, John Kaltenbach, 17:33.66; 50, Wyatt Homola, 19:04.4; 83, Patrick Meyer, 20:55.22.
Senior boys (98): 44, Thomas Honeycutt, 18:55.16; 49, Adriel Eckart, 19:08.92; 79, Ryuta Meany, 21:11.14.
Sophomore girls (71): 23, Rachel Crowther, 22:38.84; 37, Nikki Blanchard, 23:49.53; 60, Grace Pauley, 27:42; Sophie Rath, 28:25.
Junior girls (67): 12, Ashley Everett, 21:06.32; 17, Carlie Kenny, 21:34.49; 61, Emily Saar, 27:45.
