SCAC Cross Country Champions Royal boys take 5th straight crown, Girls finish second

ROYAL CITY — The Royal High boys are South Central A Conference cross country champs again – for the fifth straight time – after two victories at Connell last Thursday.

The girls had another great year in the SCAC, finishing second to No. 2-ranked Zillah. They also picked up a pair of triumphs at Connell. They finished 9-1 to the boys’ 10-0.

The boys pulled off their final two team wins without one of their lead runners. Silver Beltran was nursing a sore hip flexor, and the coaches rested him for this Thursday’s district meet at Highland.

Over the last decade, the Knight boys have assembled quite a group of harriers and have become the team to beat in the SCAC. The boys entered the final league race with a perfect 8-0 record, needing just one more strong run to secure the title.

Standing in their way were the Bears of Kiona-Benton and the Eagles of Connell, who were eager for the opportunity to knock the Knights off their perch. With calm winds and temperatures in the low 70s, the stage was set for prime running.

Connell’s varsity pack surged to a fast first mile with Royal’s top guns waiting patiently for their opportunity to strike. By the midpoint of the 3.1-mile race, Royal’s boys began to make their move and, one-by-one, pick off their opponents.

“Our boys showed a lot of maturity and resolve to maintain their pacing and then strike when the opportunities presented themselves,” coach Ben Orth said.

At the finish, Royal had five of the top seven finishers, including overall winner junior Victor Garcia (17:37) and runner-up freshman Rudy Flores (2nd, 17:43).

The rest of the Royal lead pack included freshman Victor Santillan (4th, 18:14), sophomore Eduardo Rodriguez (6th, 18:23), and senior Cristian Garcia (7th, 18:26).

Also helping the team effort in the absence of Beltran, were junior Arturo Villa (10th, 18:37) and freshman Martin Horta (11th, 18:53).

The final team score against Connell was 20-37. The Knights scored a perfect shutout against Kiona-Benton, 15-50.

The Royal girls team entered the final SCAC league meet with a 7-1 record. Their only blemish came at the hands of the Zillah Leopards, who are ranked No. 2 in the 1A state rankings.

Much like the boys, the Lady Knights got out behind the Eagle runners early but, by the mile marker, started to assert their will. Leading the way once again for the girls team was sophomore Kay Lester who battled Connell’s Kennon Casper for much of the first two miles before Casper surged up the final long climb to the victory.

Lester settled for second overall (21:17) as the Lady Knights placed seven runners in the top 11 finishers, just as the boys team had done. Junior Gracelynn Miller continued her strong season of running, finishing in fourth (21:41), freshman Elizabeth Guadarrama was fifth (21:48), freshman Abigail DeLay eighth (22:32), junior Caitlin Diaz ninth (22:37), senior Meghan Mianecki tenth (23:07) and senior Anahi Gomez eleventh (23:29).

Final team scores had the Lady Knights winning 20-43 over Connell and 23-36 over Kiona Benton.

“In addition to the team wins, another great aspect of this final league race was the fact that 11 of our runners set personal records on a five km distance,” coach Lyndsy Roberts said. “As coaches, we are always stressing personal growth. So that was excellent to see.”

The Knights now turn their attention to the District Championships on Thursday at the Apple Ridge course in Cowiche.