The Bainbridge cross country teams came away with a split against their hosts, Central Kitsap, Saturday, in two extremely close races with the girls coming out on the winning side.
There was plenty of talent in the girls’ field, but junior Eden Michael ran away from the competition, coming in first with a time of 20 minutes, 28 seconds, nearly 40 seconds ahead of her training partner and fellow 11th-grader Lucy King (21:09).
As a team, the Spartans prevailed 24-31 as freshman Lily Curtis finished fourth (22:23), just behind three seconds behind Central Kitsap’s top finisher, Taylor Nichols. Rounding out the scorers were Cassidy Parr, a senior captain, who took home seventh place in her first race of the season with a time of 22:52 and freshman Lili Pohl, who took 11th with a time of 23:13. Fellow freshman Hailey McCulloch finished just one second behind in 12th. Cate Gleason was the seventh runner across for Bainbridge (24:47).
Bainbridge also had Claire Hungerford, Camille Zaro, Mckennah Thompson, Mayzie Carleton, Bella Decina, Clara Pehling and Clare Willmes in the second wave.
In the boys race, junior Alex Miller chased down Central Kitsap’s top runner, Daniel Lizon, to take a first -place finish. Miller trailed for nearly three miles before pulling ahead on the final steep uphill toward the track. Miller had the top time of any boys runner Saturday, finishing in 17:20, 16 seconds ahead of Lizon.
Sophomore Aaron Ramirez took third with a time of 18:24, followed by Nick Grant in seventh (19:44) and freshman Bodie Strom (20:03), who took eighth. But the Spartans were just edged out by Central Kitsap, which finished with 26 points to Bainbridge’s 31. Another freshman, Zach Shields was the final scorer for Bainbridge, as he finished 13th with a time of 21:29. Mateo Welty was two seconds behind in 14th, and Garrett Swanson finished 16th (21:37).
In the second wave of the boys race were Tobin Blair, Evan Gray, Brenden Hungerford, Josiah McDaniel, Oliver Pitts and Max Westphal.
Lucy King makes her way down the track in a dual-meet with Central Kitsap. King finished second in her race behind teammate Eden Michael. (Photo courtesy of Rick Peters).
Lucy King makes her way down the track in a dual-meet with Central Kitsap. King finished second in her race behind teammate Eden Michael. (Photo courtesy of Rick Peters).
Bainbridge’s Alex Miller chases down Central Kitsap’s Daniel Lizon in the second Olympic League meet of the season. Miller won the race with a time of 17:20.20. (Photo courtesy of Rick Peters)
