West Valley (Yakima) Boys, Central Kitsap Girls Pull Out Close Team Titles

By Keenan Gray for DyeStat

Following a three-year absence, the return of the Fort Steilacoom Invitational was one for the books as  highly anticipated races produced compelling finishes on Saturday in Lakewood, Wash.

Headlined by host Lakes on the boys side, the Lancers' Cruize Corvin ran to one of the best wins of his career in the varsity gold race, taking down Sehome’s Zack Munson in a personal best effort of 15 minutes, 1 second over the 5-kilometer course at Fort Steilacoom Park.

“I just wanted to go out there, give it my all and see what happens,” Corvin said. “I’ve just been believing in my training I’ve been doing all summer, just staying confident (and) knowing my training was going to pay off.”

Along with Corvin and Munson in the field, the gold race featured three more top-tier runners from the Northwest including Corvin’s teammate Zander Trevino and Wilsonville’s Carter Cutting and Mason Weisgerber, making for an exciting race that lived up to the hype.

INTERVIEWS 

Corvin led the top five through a 4:35-4:36 first mile with Munson right on his shoulder. The two eventually broke away from the pack heading into mile two and went head to head on the back end of the course that featured two tough hills. 

After heading up the second hill, Corvin made a strong surge going downhill to pull away from Munson, who finished in 15:09 for second. 

Corvin’s teammate Trevino ran to a season best performance of 15:47.5 to place fourth. Cutting and Weisgerber finished third and fifth. respectively, in 15:34.5 and 15:54.7. 

Yelm’s Zachary Walsh took sixth in a personal best 15:59.8, edging out Central Kitsap’s Blake Reynolds,  seventh in a personal best run of 15:59.9. Tumwater’s John Hoffer clocked a season-best 16:08.5 to secure eighth.

West Valley (Yakima) took home the team title with 89 points, defeating Mead by three points. The Rams had two runners finish in the top 15 as Boden Alderson was 10th in a personal best 16:16, followed by Caden Casteel in 14th, running 16:23.2. 

Noah Holden’s ninth-place and personal best run of 16:15 paced Mead. Jonathan Lieb was second for the Panthers coming in 15th place in a personal best 16:23.8.

Sehome finished third with 104 points, followed by Lakes in fourth with 118 points and Camas in fifth with 131 points. 

Tigard’s Sabine Kim fended off Peninsula’s Elektra Higgins by a tenth of a second to come away with the girls title in the gold race, running 18:31.3 for a personal best time. 

“I just wanted to stay up in the top pack,” Kim said. “I realized I could pass that girl on one of the hills, so I just kept going and hoped that I didn’t get passed back.”

Racing out front for the entire race, Kim came down the homestretch with a good lead but had to make one more final surge with 100 meters to go as Higgins, who ran 18:31.4, closed the gap to the very end, leading to a photo finish going in Kim’s favor. It was Kim’s first high school cross country win.

“This feels amazing,” said Kim, who led Tigard to a third place team finish. “Especially since freshman year I was running 25-minute 5ks, so it feels good.”

Central Kitsap’s Clare Herring made her debut at 5,000 meters, running 18:33 to place third overall while leading the Cougars to a one-point win over Tahoma 67-68 to secure the girls team title. Taylor Palmer (11th, 19:17.3), Audra Palmer (12th, 19:20.5), and Camryn Bishoff (16th, 19:32.7) rounded out other top-20 finishers for Central Kitsap.

Tahoma’s Julia Stuard was the first Bear to cross the finish line, placing ninth in 19:09.7. Anika Nau and Kate Sanders trailed in 13th and 15th place, running 19:24.6 and 19:25.9. 

Bonney Lake’s Latham West ran 18:55.3 to place fourth in the field, outrunning Class 3A 800 meter state champion Julia Couch of Auburn Riverside, who finished fifth in 18:57. 

Lincoln’s (Seattle) Talia Braester made her season debut, running 19:00.4 by placing sixth. Mt. Si’s duo of Addison Craig and Hailey Cossey placed seventh and 10th respectively in 19:03.6 and 19:16.8. Eisenhower’s Isabela Alavardo took eighth, running 19:07.3. 

Rounding out the top-five in the team standings were Mt. Si and Peninsula finishing fourth and fifth with 106 and 121 points.

Kelso’s Kamren Mattison went on to win the boys silver race in a personal best time of 16:41.1. Seattle Academy’s Aspen Hoffman won the girls individual title in 19:56.

Olympia’s boys and girls both won the silver team titles as the boys defeated Bush 87-98 and girls beat Curtis 75-98. 

West Point Grey Academy out of Vancouver, British Columbia made the trek south and came away with two individual wins and a team win in the bronze races. Eva Kriebel led the girls team to a 35-point win over Steilacoom with her first place personal best effort in 20:36.4. Peter Neill won the boys race, also in a personal best time, of 16:52.5.