Having the top cross country runner in the district (junior Cole Christman) on their team, the Wenatchee High School boys cross country is currently ranked second in the district.

The WHS varsity girls cross country team is also ranked second in the district.

Both teams competed in Yakima on Oct. 5 in the Sunfair Invitational, one of the largest cross country meets of the season,  with Wenatchee placing 10th overall out of 34 other competitors.

Both girls and boys varsity competed in the Nike Pre-Nationals meet on Sept. 28 in Portland. The boys competed in the 5,000-meter Jim Danner Champion Varsity division and placed 17th place out of 22 teams. Out of 22 teams, the girls competed in the 5,000-meter Varsity 1 Division and took 20th overall.

Christman, first place in a time of 16 minutes and five seconds, and sophomore Sophie Marshall, eighth place in a time of 20 minutes and 40 seconds, both teams placed second overall, placing behind Eisenhower at their first league meet on Sept. 19 in Yakima.

Christman has consistently led the boys cross country team throughout the season, with senior Sam Martin the next leading member on the team. Christman took 20th at the Nike Pre-Nationals meet out of 164 runners in his division with a time of 16 minutes and 45 seconds.

Despite these accomplishments, the boys team is not living up to their own expectations. “Personally, the season has gone well. But as a team, it’s not so good. We haven’t been scoring as well as we wanted to… We expected to win the majority of the meets, but we haven’t,” said Christman. This is mainly due to the ineligibility of senior Tristan Cunderla and junior Austin Conklin. Cunderla injured his ankle at the first meet of the season, and hasn’t been running since, and Conklin has not been cleared to run for varsity after transferring schools. Despite these setbacks, Christman predicts the team can make top three in State with the return of their ineligible runners.

Marshall is leading the varsity girls team as well. She took 41st place out of 148 runners with a time of 21 minutes and 23 seconds. She is closely followed by junior Lindsey Wapato and senior Brittany McCrum. “They’ve ran a lot, not only with the team, but they had their own running track as well. They put a lot of miles in. You build that base in the summer, and it carries over to the fall. I’ve got to credit those kids for the time they put in,” said Coach Susan Valdez.

The team’s next meet, the Richland Invitational, is Oct. 12 in Richland. The team’s next home meet, which is the team’s second league meet, will be a three-mile race held at Walla Walla Point Park on Oct. 22. From there, the team will move onto its third and distrcit meets, and then State. “We’re all of the same mindset that we all want to go to State. It’s what makes us a stronger, better team,” said Wapato.