LAKEWOOD — Out of 314 varsity runners, North Kitsap cross country runner Reagan Colyer took sixth at the Hole in the Wall Invitational Oct. 6.

The invite, non-league, was another measurement to see how North’s athletes compare to those around the state. It’s beneficial for the Varsity runners to race a tough course against competitive schools, assistant coach Jonathan Erickson said.

Colyer finished the 3.1 mile run in 18 minutes 56.6 seconds.

Glacier Peak’s Amy-Eloise Neale took first in 17:10.4, followed by second place finisher Katie Bianchini, also of Glacier Peak.

Third place went to Sally Larson, Cedar park Christian’s, 18:22.4; fourth, Olivia Mancl, Roosevelt, 18:49.6; and fifth was Lila Rice, Redmond, 18:50.4.

Colyer was one of two runners from 2A schools to finish in the top 10. Pascale De Sa E Silva of Sammamish took 10th overall with a time of 19:10.9.

Racing against first place finisher as Amy-Eloise Neale was beneficial for a runner such as Colyer, Erickson said, because it shows a whole other tier of running.

Out of the 12, 2A schools at the invite, Erickson said the majority will have runners competing at the State meet this year, Nov. 3.

A total of 64 teams entered runners in the invite.

A drawback to the invite was Sehome’s Emily Pittis did not attend the invite, Erickson said. Pittis took first at the 2A State championships in 2011 as a freshman (18:17), two-seconds ahead of Colyer (18:19). With Pittis not in attendance, Colyer and her coaches were unable to see what they might expect at the 2012 2A State championships.

Erickson said the runners felt Hole in the Wall was more difficult than the State championships, which are held in Pasco. The added difficulty, he said, had to do with a lot of grass, a few rolling hills and the dry, dusty environment. There were also points on the trail that bottlenecked, causing runners to slow, which affected finishing times, Erickson added.

Both North Kitsap and Kingston high school cross country teams traveled to alternative invites Oct. 6 due to a rescheduling of the SunFair Invite in Yakima.

North Kitsap is up against Port Townsend and Klahowya at home, Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Kingston High School, which competed at the Fort Woden Invite Oct. 6, will compete against Olympic and Bremerton at Olympic High School, Oct. 10.

Hole in the Wall Invitational (Oct. 6)

North Kitsap

3.1 mile Varsity

Boys

78, Ian Christen, 17:19.6; 151, Sean Hitchcock, 18:11.8; 169, Dutton Polk, 18:23.6.

Girls

6, Reagan Colyer, 18:56.6; 20, Kathleen Ramsey, 19:30.4; 47, Clara Lund, 20:11.2; 78, Katrina Weinmann, 21:07.5; 113, Sarah Zimmerman, 21:43.0; 166, Christina Seader, 26:06.5.

KHS at Fort Worden Invite (Oct. 6)

3.1 mile Varsity

Boys (Out of 30)

5, Anthony Woelke, 18:15.22; 12, Colin Veilleux, 19:11.28; 15, Oliver Issa, 19:42.13; 17, Nicholas Thibault, 20:05.78; 19, Lucas Hughes, 20:11.81; 21, Jameson Bruce, 20:40.97; 30, Ansel Hartman, 23:33.45.

Girls (Out of 34)

2, Annie Roberts, 20:26.50; 9, Alexa Benjamin, 22:08.54; 10, Melia Beckwith, 22:17.42; 11, Hope McLean-Gurney, 22:17.42; 15, Megan Beckwith, 24:05.20; 18, Alexandra Anthoney, 24:34.11; 19, Ashley Spooner, 24:54.00; 21, Faith Raymond, 25:11.65; 26, Sarah DeAscentiis, 26:04.75.