Ephrata girls, Royal boys moving on

District cross country recaps

ELLENSBURG - Ephrata High School senior Brandi Eloff and freshman Danielle Friend swept the top two places on Saturday, leading the Lady Tigers cross country team to the Central Washington Athletic Conference district championship at Rhinehart Park.

Ephrata, ranked seventh in the Oct. 29 Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association poll, scored 56 points to edge second-place Ellensburg (59) for the team title. Both squads qualified for this Saturday's 2A state meet at Pasco's Sun Willows Golf Course.

Eloff and Friend finished with identical times of 19 minutes, 3 seconds. Tiger freshman Kendall Hintz finished eighth in 19:57, with Ann Slininger (22nd in 21:48), Katie Neff (23rd in 21:50), Claire Hanberg (39th in 24:10) and Kellie Bracht (42nd in 24:17) completing Ephrata's varsity seven.

Quincy seniors Whitlee Young and Rachel Heikkila also qualified for state by finishing among the top 10 individuals. Young was third at 19:20 and Heikkila 10th at 20:14. The Jackrabbits were fifth among the eight CWAC squads with 87 points.

Other Quincy competitors included Dayanna Lopez (19th in 21:36), Susy Hernandez (27th in 22:29), Samantha King (28th in 22:32), Marisol Lopez (30th in 23:01) and Maira Hernandez (51st in 26:52).

Othello was eighth in the standings with 218 points. Freshman Paula Smith was the Huskies' top placer, 41st in 24:11. She was followed by Denise Vargas (45th in 25:26), Briseida Gonzalez (46th in 25:43), Lilian Silva (48th in 26:17), Karina Silva (52nd in 26:52) and Nohely Castro (56th in 29:35).

Start times for this Saturday's state races at Pasco are as follows: 1B/2B girls, 11 a.m.; 1A girls, 11:30 a.m.; 2A girls, noon; 1B/2B boys, 12:30 p.m.; 1A boys, 1 p.m.; 3A girls, 1:30 p.m.; 4A girls, 2 p.m.; 2A boys, 2:30 p.m.; 3A boys, 3 p.m.; 4A boys, 3:30 p.m.

Other weekend results for Columbia Basin cross country squads are listed below.

SCAC boys

In the South Central Athletic Conference District 5 championships at Highland's Apple Ridge Run Course on Saturday, Royal took three of the top four positions en route to a runaway team title.

The Knights, ranked second in the latest state coaches' 1A poll, scored 27 points to obliterate runner-up Kiona-Benton (70 points). Seniors Humberto Jimenez and Rigoberto Jimenez were first and second, respectively, at 16:10. Freshman Ethan Tonnemaker was fourth in 16:33.

Royal's championship squad also included Rodrigo Montoya (10th in 17:53), Roy Angel (14th in 18:14), Luke Tonnemaker (17th in 18:36) and David Floren (18th in 18:39).

Warden senior Marty Gardinier also earned an automatic spot to state as he finished 13th in 18:09. The Cougars didn't field a complete district team, but their other runners included Thomas Benevides (55th in 21:57), Fernando Capetillo (56th in 21:58) and Jonathan Burkholder (60th in 23:14).

CWAC boys

Also at Ellensburg on Saturday, Quincy freshman Ben Horning turned in the top time among local boys, placing 12th in 16:50 as the Jacks placed seventh out of 10 teams. Ellensburg (48 points) and Selah (52) earned the two team spots to state.

Ephrata sophomore Eddie Pineda led the Tigers to a sixth-place finish, garnering 17th place at 17:18. His district teammates included Jesse Hector (22nd in 17:30), Daniel Simon (32nd in 17:45), Ian Westrope (39th in 17:55), Kort Laughlin (40th in 18:00), Patrick Simon (62nd in 19:32) and Micah Nelson (63rd in 19:47).

Quincy's other district runners were Adrian Diaz (25th in 17:32), Luke Grigg (46th in 18:11), Dan Sommers (50th in 18:34), Matt Benedict (51st in 18:40), Logan Winters (52nd in 18:45) and Kyle Bode (65th in 19:58).

Othello placed ninth at the meet, paced by junior Tyson Alvarez's 28th-place time of 17:38. Rounding out the Huskies' scoring field were Eduardo Montes (45th in 18:10), Jake Smith (48th in 18:16), Jacob Hoots (49th in 18:31), Michael Cooper (56th in 19:03), Dustin Pass (58th in 19:09) and Reuben Lopez (59th in 19:11).

SCAC girls

Also at Highland on Saturday, Royal's girls finished one point out of a spot to state. The Lady Knights scored 73 points for fourth, one point back of Kiona-Benton. Zillah (39) and Highland (47) were first and second, respectively.

Royal senior Lydia McCubbins had a team-best performance of 21:46 for fifth, followed closely by teammate Cara Wiedraayer in sixth at 21:53. Julisa Jeske (18th in 23:11), Anna Dahlke (35th in 26:27), Vanessa Serrano (36th in 26:56) and Nancy Acevedo (29th in 27:29) completed the Knights' varsity seven.

Warden didn't field a complete squad, but Cougar freshman Brittany Stavig (13th in 22:53) and junior Kaitlyn Yamane (15th in 22:55) will both compete at the 1A state meet this Saturday.

District 5-7 1B/2B

At Spokane's Fairways Golf Course, Odessa senior Matt Cronrath zipped to the boys' individual championship in 16:01, 15 seconds better than his nearest competitor.

Odessa, which didn't field a complete team, will also be represented at the state meet by junior Scott Strang, fourth at districts in 16:54. Other Tiger runners included senior Josh Allen (15th in 17:32) and senior Matthew Zeiler (36th in 19:42).

St. George's easily won the team title with 24 points, with Reardan (54) also qualifying as a team.

In the girls' competition, Odessa's Jaylene Jasman (21st in 23:13) and Jana Jasman (35th in 24:45) were the Tigers' only district representatives. St. George's (20) and Reardan (51) also earned the girls' team berths to state.