ARLINGTON — Port Angeles’ Jack Gladfelter broke an all-time Roughriders’ cross-country record at the Nike Hole-in-the-Wall Invitational this weekend.
A record that stood an entire week. Because it was set by Gladfelter a week ago.
Gladfelter broke both the Port Angeles and his own record with a 5K time of 15 minutes, 15.5 seconds, good for sixth place in the men’s elite race. Gladfelter crushed the record by 20 seconds, which he set Oct. 1 at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational at Chambers Creek in Tacoma.
The Nike Hole-in-the-Wall is a prestigious event with more than 2,000 runners from several states and British Columbia. The men’s elite race is by invitation only for runners who average under 17 minutes per race, as 149 of the top prep runners from the Pacific Northwest and abroad in all classes of high schools competed with Gladfelter.
Gladfelter’s 15:15.5 time is the second-fastest in the state among 2A runners. Zack Munson of Sehome cracked 15 minutes with a time of 14:55.5 at the Hole-in-the-Wall race, winning it. Gladfelter’s time is also the fourth-best among Washington high school runners of all classifications.
Gladfelter wasn’t the only local runner who had a great race.
Aliyah Yearian for East Jefferson, running in the women’s elite race, finished ninth with a time of 18:17.1, her best of the year. Yearian’s time is the second-fastest 1A girls’ time posted this year. Alexis Leone of Seton Catholic posted a time of 17:46.8 earlier this season.
Port Angeles coach Rodger Johnson said it was a great race for his entire team.
“Out of 18 [Port Angeles] runners, 17 posted their fastest times of the season, and 15 runners posted their all time personal best,” Johnson said.
More than 50 Olympic Peninsula prep runners competed in various races at the event, with several runners coming in the top 20 of their races.
Running in the varsity gold race (average time under 18 minutes), Port Angeles’ Maxwell Baeder came in 21st with a time of 16:27.5. East Jefferson’s Sebastian Manza finished 26th with a time of 16:33.6.
Running in the varsity silver race (average time under 19 minutes), East Jefferson’s Soare Johnston finished fifth in a time of 16:42.8, while Port Angeles’ Langdon Larson was 13th (17:11.9). Sequim’s Owen Randall was 29th (17:35.6) and Roughrider Kowen Kasten was 81st at 18:15.0.
Port Angeles’ Bryce DeLeon was 198th (19:11.0), teammates Jayden McLarty was 216th (19:24.1), Aiden Butterworth 247th (19:45.4) and Lukas Teague 276th (20:02.2). Sequim’s Sean Southard was 298th (20:26.9).
In the girls’ varsity gold (under-22 average time) race, Sequim’s Kaitlyn Bloomenrader finished 49th with a time of 20:18.1
In the girls’ varsity silver (22-minute average) race, Camryn Hines of East Jefferson finished 17th with a time of 20:34.1 and teammate Fiona Fraser was 37th (21:19.3).
East Jefferson’s Tadu Dollarhide was 120th (22:35.0) and teammate Sylvia Butterfield was 125th (22:37.2). Anastasia Updike of Sequim was 212th (23:52.1), while Hilina Taylor-Lenz of East Jefferson was 270th (25:03.8) and Leah Ferland of East Jefferson was 281st (25:31.3).
Running in the girls’ junior varsity gold (under 24 minutes) race, Port Angeles freshman Leia Larson was 21st with a time of 21:10.6. Her Roughriders teammate Faerin Tait was 96th at 23:16.9.
Sequim’s Sadie Mavy finished third in the girls’ junior varsity bronze race (26-minute average) with a time of 22:49.7 and Ahrya Klinger of Sequim was 22nd in the same race with a time of 24:15.4. Sequim’s Lilly Despain was 311th in a time of 30:25.5.
In the boys’ junior varsity silver race (20-minute average), Sequim’s Matthew Lake was 121st (20:29.9) and Roger Burwash was 176th (20:54.5). Port Angeles’ Andre Campbell was 179th (20:56.0) and Roughrider Brock Tejeda was 220th (21:14.1). Sequim’s Keith Lake was 258th (21:34.5) and teammate Malachi Byrne was 296th (21:54.6).
In the girls junior varsity silver race (24-minute average), Sequim’s Aspen Goldner finished 170th (25:44.1), Port Angeles’ Kathryn Jones 231st (28:00.3) and Roughrider Alexis-Ryley Price 255th (30:23.8).
In the boys’ junior varsity bronze race (22-minute average), Port Angeles’ Sean Lyman was sixth in a time of 19:33.1, while East Jefferson’s Henri Huber was seventh at 19:44.2. Rivals runner Indio Gould was 11th at 19:54.7 and Sequim’s Easton Sisemore was 53rd (21:14.7).
East Jefferson’s Grady White was 121st (22:15.1). Teammate Rylen Kruse was 135th (22:23.7) and East Jefferson’s Dustin Hines was 158th (22:38.7). Port Angeles’ Griffin Grego was 165th (22:42.5) and fellow Roughrider Daniel Biondolillo was 218th (23:22.0). Sequim’s Ayden Humphries was 278th (24:11.3), and fellow Wolves runners Braeden Davis was 351st (25:51.1) and Sebastian Buhrer 391st (26:31.8). Sequim’s Finn Marlow was 434th (30:40.3) and East Jefferson’s Alex Lott was 435th (30:41.3).
Runners from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, British Columbia and Alabama competed in the event.
