Mavs girls claim league, district crowns; both teams head to state

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks cross country teams had strong showings at the Big 9 4A District 5 Cross Country Championships on Thursday. While both teams qualified for the state meet, the girls also brought home the league and district championships.

"It was a good day," Head Coach Larry Dagnon said. "We went out and started off great again with the JV girls and the boys JV, and then set the stage again for the kids to just go out and do what they wanted to do. That whole race just brought out some really top end effort out of (the varsity squads). Really wanted to see what they would do against West Valley when it really mattered, and holy cow, they really brought it." 

The girls team not only took first as a team but did so convincingly. They earned a team score of 26 and a team time of 1:36:29.9, putting them ahead of fellow Big 9 contenders West Valley and Eastmont.  

Their strong performance was spearheaded by three top five finishes from Rachel Nofziger (18:55.1) in third, Aspen Hoenes (19:00.9) in fourth and Amelia Olascon (19:17.9) rounding out the fifth spot. 

The Mavs success didn't stop there however, as Natalie Vehrs (19:29.1) and Emily Bong (19:46.9) finished inside the top 10. Kaytlyn Russell (19:59.4) took 11th and Sarah Humpherys (21:30.5) took 23rd to complete the race and solidify the team's place in the state meet.  

Nofziger, Hoenes, Olascon, Bong and Russell put together a solid combination of personal and season best performances – highlighting the team's consistent improvement, even in the latter stages of the 2026 season.  

"They've really just wanted to improve upon what they did last year, and I think a lot of them took their finish last year at state very personally," Dagnon said. "It allowed them to really be pretty mature how they have handled their season. They do race reflections; they log their mileage. Our coaches can look and see how they were feeling what they were thinking, and they really have taken a really solid approach to improvement by doing a lot of reflection, and there's been a lot of evidence that it's helped." 

The boys took second with a team score of 55 and a 1:23:33.2 team time, finishing just behind Eisenhower. Though short of a league title, Dagnon said the Mavs are thrilled to have qualified for the state meet. 

Leading the way was Lane Christensen (16:16.3) in fifth and Colton Lucero (16:33.4) in eighth, each putting in season best races. Also putting in a season best was Liam Roseburg (16:40.5), who placed 12th. Maxwell Jolley (16:41.6), Jonathan Sandoval (16:56.3) and Gabriel Cabiao (17:15.1, and personal best) rounded out the top 20 runners, with Noah Demchuk (17:39.5) completing the race to solidify their state qualification.  

"There's a lot to just love about that race," Dagnon said. "All of them would have liked to have been two or three spots higher than they were. Max was in ninth (place) up until the last 400 meters. We would have been even closer to Ike then, and you've just got to congratulate Eisenhower and say, 'Hey, you guys ran really well that day.' Sometimes it's just another team's day, and they're so well coached and they're such a good program. There's no shame in coming in second and going to state." 

The Mavericks turn their focus to the 2026 state cross country championships on Nov. 7 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. Though proud of where both of his teams are after qualifying for state for the third consecutive season, Dagnon still feels there is more room for growth, which he deems a positive.  

"I feel good... I keep bumping into coaches that have retired or left, the Big 9 since I started in 2014, and a lot of them keep giving us the same sentiment, 'I can't believe what you guys have become,'" said the coach. "It's a very special thing to hear that from some coaches. You feel proud when you hear that from people that you've looked up to, and you really envied what their programs were, especially when we were taking some lumps." 

As they prepare for the state meet, the Mavericks may start to implement some tapering into their training, which they have yet to do, said the coach. 

"We would taper (ahead of districts), so we would run our best at districts, so we would ensure we got in. This year, we didn't at all," Dagnon said.  

Now the Mavericks have unique opportunity to approach the state race differently than years past.  

"Usually when you taper, it can lead to some faster times. We're hopeful that happens like it has in the past, and the kids will come out full of energy and really have a great race," he said. "Jodi O'Shea, one of our coaches, she's got some great insight on how we taper, what we need to do, and it's pretty neat when every single coach is as invested as I feel like I've been. We're just all on the same page, and I think it could lead to something special." 

RESULTS: 

Place, Name, Time 

Women's 3 miles 4A varsity 

3: Rachel Nofziger – 18:55.1 

4: Aspen Hoenes – 19:00.9 

5: Amelia Olascon – 19:17.9 

7: Natalie Vehrs – 19:29.1 

9: Emily Bong – 19:46.9 

11: Kaytlyn Russell – 19:59.4 

23: Sarah Humpherys – 21:30.5 

Men's 3 miles 4A varsity 

5: Lane Christensen – 16:16.3 

8: Colton Lucero – 16:33.4 

12: Liam Roseburg – 16:40.5 

14: Maxwell Jolley – 16:41.6 

16: Jonathan Sandoval – 16:56.3 

20: Gabriel Cabiao – 17:15.1 

25: Noah Demchuk – 17:39.5 

    The Moses Lake cross country squads hype each other up ahead of their races on Thursday at the Big 9 4A District 5 Cross Country Championships.