Both the Capital and Olympia high school cross country teams enjoyed a successful trip to Spokane Valley for the 2026 Nike Bob Firman Invitational this weekend.
The meet included over 3,200 registered athletes representing 115 schools from 10 states and one Canadian province.
All seven of the Olympia female varsity runners in the girls 5K elite race earned either a season-best time or a personal record. Olympia’s top finisher was sophomore Leah Hennen, as she finished in 33rd place with a season-best time of 18 minutes, 30 seconds.
Senior Carolina Schilter picked up a new season-best time of 18:54.5 in 65th place, and sophomore Gemma Stevick took 71st at 18:56.8, also a season-best. Sophomore Caitlin Lanese (19:52.0), senior Gretchen Hillier (19:58.6) and sophomore Ellen Cummings (21:00.1) all earned PRs, and sophomore Eliza Johnson’s time of 19:57.6 was a new season-high.
Capital junior Abram Montermini finished in 12th place in his section with a new PR of 16:20.7, and senior Jae Walz wasn’t far behind in that same race at 16:28.0 to take 16th place. Senior Oliver Schrader got a lifetime-best time of 16:58.1 in 33rd place.
Capital freshman Emma Lamont improved her 5K time for the third straight meet by earning a time of 22:32.1 in her section. Junior Avey Garner also saw a lifetime-best at 22:40.5.
Capital junior Quin Walz notched a top-100 finish in his race at 17:11.4. In one of the girls races, Capital senior Bella Lang finished in 23:13.2 to take 82nd out of 149 runners. Freshman Isla Powell’s new PR of 24:29.7 also earned her a top-100 finish at 96th.
"This was a special opportunity to travel to Spokane, and overall the boys team placed in the top 10 of the Division I race, with competitive teams from across the entire Pacific Northwest region," Capital boys head coach Mike Lunde said. "The varsity boys displayed their grit and readiness to race against tough competition, showing us that the best is yet to come."
Olympia sophomore Quin Zola set a PR at 16:32.5 in the boys 5K elite race, and senior Jack McDurmon also improved his best time at 16:37.
