Marsh, Budiselich continue to lead Chiefs runners

RICHLAND - Jeff Marsh's 11th-place time of 16 minutes, 41 seconds paced the Moses Lake High School boys cross country team Tuesday as it split a pair of Columbia Basin League matchups at Carmichael Middle School.

Marsh, who'd never before crossed the 17-minute threshold in his high school career, was the Chiefs' top finisher as they knocked off Davis 26-29 and lost to Eisenhower 15-48. Moses Lake also split two non-league decisions, beating Wenatchee 19-39 and losing to Richland by the same score.

Eisenhower's Cody Van Debrake won the boys' 3-mile race in 15:59, seven seconds ahead of Davis junior Emmanuel Contreras. Richland's Ryan Willits, Eisenhower's Derrick Thomas, and Richland's Nathan Schweiger rounded out the top five.

Moses Lake junior Ari Santiago was 14th overall in 16:51 with senior Nick McAlavy 24th in 17:19. Also scoring points for the Chiefs were Efrain Zamora (26th in 17:21), Daniel Jenkins (29th in 17:25), Steffen Klepsch (43rd in 18:30) and Tanner Hunt (50th in 18:58).

In the girls' race, Moses Lake's Kristin Budiselich also set a personal milestone by breaking the 21-minute barrier. The junior finished 23rd overall in 20:54. Davis junior Sandra Martinez won the race in 18:29, with Hanford's Erin Hegarty, Katie Mahoney and Danielle Amparan of Richland, and Wenatchee's Skye Pauly rounding out the top five.

Moses Lake's Kayla Chamberlain was 27th in 21:18, followed by teammates Amy Cromer (40th in 23:13), Danielle Holle (41st in 24:25) and Alex Marek (43rd in 25:38). The girls dropped two CBL contests, 15-43 to Davis and 19-41 to Eisenhower.

The Chiefs return to action this Saturday when they travel to the Big Cross Invite in Pasco. The meet begins at 11 a.m.