UNIVERSITY PLACE — The East Jefferson boys and girls cross-country teams each won district championships in the Westside Classic 1A races held this weekend at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
Both teams will move on to the state 1A championships being held next weekend, while Sequim and Port Angeles both qualified some individual runners for the 2A meet.
The girls won in particularly strong fashion, as Aaliyah Cassidy Yearian won the district championship with a time of 18 minutes, 21.4 seconds and her teammate Fiona Fraser was second at 18:38.2. Both Yearian and Fraser were about a minute ahead of the third-place runner.
The Rivals’ Sylvia Butterfield was eighth (21:17.9), Leah Ferland was 12th (22:17.0), Tadu Dollarhide was 15th (23:00.8), Michael Gregg was 16th (23:16.5) and Hilina Taylor-Lez 20th (25:02.4).
The girls won with 35 points to Klahowya’s 38 (cross country is like golf, in which lower scores are better). Last year, the East Jefferson girls finished sixth in the state without an injured Yearian.
The boys won by one point, 81 to Charles Wright’s 82. The Rivals only had one top 10 runner, Soare Johnston, who came in third at 16:37.8, but got five runners in the top 23 to win the district title. Henri Huber was 13th with a time of 17:44.3, Indigo Gould 20th at 18:04.2, Joshua Yearian 22nd at 18:10.2 and Noah Isenberg 23rd at 18:10.7. Rounding out the field, Dustin Hines was 30th (18:43.2) and Silas Klontz 40th (20:00.3).
In the 2A races, Sequim’s Colby Ellefson finished seventh in 16:25.3, qualifying for state, while Port Angeles’ Tymur Lytvak also made state by finishing 14th in a time of 16:58.1. The top 42 individuals move on.
In the girls 2A race, Sequim’s Kaitlyn Bloomenrader was seventh with a time of 20:44.7, moving on to state, while Port Angeles’ Leia Larson was ninth (20:51.6), also making state.
Port Angeles’ Miriam Cobb was 33rd (22:48.8) and Sequim’s Dawn Huilstedt was 34th (22:54.8). They also qualified for state.
The Port Angeles boys finished ninth as a team and Sequim 10th. Kingston won the district championship. The Sequim girls finished eighth as a team and Port Angeles ninth. The White River girls won the district championship. The top six teams move on to state.
The state cross country championships will be held Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
Boys tennis
BREMERTON — Sequim’s Garrett Little finished second at the bidistrict tennis tournament, moving on to state in the spring.
The Port Angeles duo of Nathan Basden and Matthew Miller will also move on to state, which will be held at the University of Washington.
Little went 3-1 in the tournament. He beat Amos Hall of Enumclaw 6-0, 6-0 and Jordan Wang of Sammamish 6-2, 6-3. In the semifinals, he had a tough battle, beating Jack Wang of Sammamish 7-5, 6-7, 6-3. In the finals, he lost to Rafael Polito, also of Sammamish 6-2, 6-2.
The team of Basden-Miller went 4-1 and finished fifth, beating Kevin Thai and Kevin Pham of Foss 6-0, 6-2 to qualify for state.
The Port Angeles duo of Luke Flodstrom and Tate Alton also competed at district, winning one out of three matches on the day.
