The Wenatchee Cross Country team traveled to Yakima on Thursday, Sept. 25, to compete in their first league meet of the 2025 season. The Wenatchee varsity team is made up every week with the top seven runners from the previous meet and is announced before the next meet. Wenatchee boys varsity for this meet was Sam Wagner, Ben Newman, Gabriel Picciottoli, Ian Williams, Jackson Clark, Alex Henning and Byron McKinnon. The girls team was composed of Anna Hirsh, Allie Knoop, Hannah Roche, Maxine Mathison, Sloane Eppich-Talbot, Kylee Boothby-Sanchez and Saveana Hoffman.
The girls’ team won four and lost two in duals, while the boys won one and lost five.
Senior and captain, Wagner, is the varsity’s top runner and placed 11 overall with a time of 17:19 in the three-mile race at Franklin Park, along with leading first for Wenatchee in the Ellensburg Relays and Highlander Invitational.
In Wagner’s words, the race was tight, yet competitive and fast. His dedication and hard work outside of practice have led him to perform well, even with the setback of the weather conditions, which has not only affected them but other sports as well.
“We haven’t gotten turned outside much since the smoke has been so bad. I feel like we just haven’t gotten enough quality practices due to running in the halls for practice, and are yet to be doing the best of our ability,” said Wagner.
Due to these tough conditions, he’s had to put the work in outside of practice.
Girls’ top runner Anna Hirsch placed 1 with a time of 18:29. Along with a new personal record for this competitor, Hirsch also placed 2 in the Ellensburg Relays. Coach Steve Roche predicts her to “shine” this season.
“Anna Hirsch has a chance to be one of the top five runners at the state meet. She’s been amazing so far this year and has been working so hard to be great,” said Roche. “It’s fun to see her get her moment to shine.“
Along with Hirsch performing well for Wenatchee, Roche expects Wagner to represent well and lead himself to state again.
“Sam Wagner has consistently been our top runner all season. He is an excellent lead by example type and brings his 100% best effort every day. He qualified for the state meet last season, and I have hopes that he can run under 16:30 at state this year, “ said Roche.
Wagner’s and Hirsch’s performance will only improve throughout the season along with the rest of the team, according to Roche.
“I predict that our kids will get considerably faster. We’ve placed a big emphasis on getting stronger this year, and I think that will pay off as we get closer to the end of the season, “said Roche. “ We still have high hopes to take a lot of kids to state this November.”
Their next meet will be Oct. 4 in Spokane and districts will be held in Wenatchee at Walla Walla Park on Oct. 30.
