PORT ANGELES — A scheduled dual became a one-on-one duel between the Port Angeles and Bremerton cross country teams.
Wednesday’s meet was delayed because Kingston’s bus was stuck in accident-related traffic on state Highway 104.
The Buccaneers eventually turned around and returned home, leaving the Roughriders and Knights to face off at Lincoln Park.
The Port Angeles boys and girls teams both went on to win, led by the individual winners in each race, Cameron Butler taking the boys race and Gracie Long the girls race.
“The race for men’s first place was an epic battle between Bremerton’s Jacob Burton . . . [and] Cameron Butler,” Riders coach Rodger Johnson.
“They overtook each other multiple times through the race, but Butler put on a burst of speed in the last 500 meters that Burton just couldn’t match.”
Butler finished the 5-kilometer race in 17 minutes, 49.22 seconds — nine seconds ahead of Burton, a junior.
Port Angeles had two other top-five finishers: Hunter Dempsey placed fourth (18:57.88) and Gabe Long (19:00.62) was fifth.
Where the Riders won the points battle was in the latter half of the top ten, as Lukas Mobius, A.J. Fischer, Josh Hendry and Tristin Butler finished seventh through 10th.
The Riders defeated the Knights 25-34.
The Bremerton girls only had two runners, not enough for a full team, so Port Angeles claimed the win by default.
The Riders had the top five finishers.
Long won with a time of 19:43.33, Madelyn Dougherty was second (20:47.23), Lael Butler took third (22:06.26), Lily Morlan came in fourth (23:34.26) and Jaden Priest finished fifth (27:46.98).
Port Angeles next competes at the Bellevue Invitational at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah on Saturday.
Sequim teams win league three-way
SEQUIM — Waverly Shreffler cruised to a first-place finish and Brendon Despain edged teammates Ash Francis and Jackson Oliver as the Wolves swept an Olympic League dual with Olympic and North Kitsap at Robin Hill Farm County Park.
Shreffler won the girls race by finishing in 21 minutes, 9.16 seconds, which was nearly two minutes ahead of second-place Anneli Seaberg of North Kitsap.
Audrey Shingleton was third (23:18.16) for Sequim, and Kiara Pierson (24:01.51) and Elizabeth Rosales (24:01.81) placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
The Wolves finished with 26 points. Olympic was second with 47 and North Kitsap had 53.
Despain, Francis and Oliver crossed the finish line in quick succession to claim the top three spots in the boys race.
Despain finished in 17:35.07, Francis in 17:35.40 and Oliver in 17:35.70.
C.J. Daniels took sixth for the Wolves, Wendall Lorenzen was eighth and Christian Ash finished ninth.
Sequim won the boys team competition with 20 points. Olympic was second with 38 and North Kitsap had 72 points.
The Wolves return to action Saturday at the Bellevue Invitational at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah.
Boys Tennis
Kingston 5, Port Angeles 2
KINGSTON — The Roughriders went on the road and were defeated by the Buccaneers in Olympic League action.
“The defeat shows us the many areas where we need to improve by honing the new skills we are learning and trying to break some old habits,” Port Angeles coach Gil Stockton said of Wednesday’s match.
“We need to try and forget the old and focus on the new.
“This is a terrific, young team that just needs a bit of time to make what is being learned this year second nature against quality competition.”
Janson Pederson and Kyler Mabry had the Riders’ two wins. Port Angeles’ other singles player, Tyler Nickerson, fell in three sets in the No. 2 singles match.
“The team ball went to Tyler Nickerson for illustrating toughness and consistency,” Stockton said.
Port Angeles (1-4, 2-4) hosts North Mason (0-3, 0-3) today.
Kingston 5, Port Angeles 2
Singles
No. 1: Janson Pederson (PA) def. Hernandez (K) 6-4, 6-2.
No. 2: Perini (K) def. Tyler Nickerson (PA) 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
No. 3: Kyler Mabrey (PA) def. Gallaway (K) 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles
No. 1: Spencer/Shaw (K) def. Soule/Leslie (PA) 6-2, 6-2.
No. 2: Young/Friedal (K) def. Woods/Duncan (PA) 6-2, 6-1.
No. 3: Toop/Hernandez (K) def. Wahslten/Jackson (PA) 6-2, 6-2.
No. 4: Sax/Clark (K) def. Dougherty/Basden (PA) 6-0, 6-0.
