The 2026 HOKA John Payne XC Invitational, hosted Saturday, Oct. 3 in University Place, was a hotspot for personal records for Thurston County cross country runners.
At the top of the list of finishers from the area is Tumwater senior Alexandra Broome, who posted a runner-up finish in the girls silver 5K race at 19 minutes, 30.1 seconds. Rainier junior Komaire Robles finished in fourth at 19:52.2, and North Thurston sophomore Lily Aardahl took 11th at 20:57.5.
Capital’s girls team had a strong showing in the silver race, headlined by freshman Emma Lamont’s PR of 22:24.3. Senior Bella Lang also set a personal-best time of 22:52.5, beating her previous best time by 25 seconds. Junior Abigail Ding ran a time of 23:20.9 for a new PR, and junior Avey Garner was just two seconds off her PR at 22:42.7.
River Ridge junior Xyla Camp improved her lifetime-best time to 22:44.3 in the silver race.
The highest finisher on the boys side was Yelm senior Marcos Andujar, who continued his blistering start to his final prep season with a seventh-place finish at 15:33.8 in the boys gold race. Pope John Paul II freshman Micah Henry broke his own school freshman record again with a 29th-place time of 16:04.8, and his teammate Kevin Hu, the reigning 1B state champion, finished in 35th at 16:16.0.
Yelm senior Peter Robbins took 53rd at 16:38.3, and Capital sophomore Quin Walz’s season-best time of 16:38.9 earned him 55th and broke the school sophomore record.
"Overall, our boys are consistently showing that they can race with the top teams in our league and district," Capital boys head coach Mike Lunde said. "You can never 'mail it in.' We always have to give our best on race day, so as we run toward the final few weeks of the regular season, all of this experience is preparing us for the biggest races ahead of us."
In the girls gold race, Yelm senior Deejay Taylor ran a 32nd-place time of 19:33.6, and Pope John Paul II freshman Kyra Deutscher set another PR at 19:55.6 to take 54th. Both schools saw multiple PRs in that race, as Pope John Paul II freshman Mira Valpiani (93rd at 20:43.9), Yelm senior Amaya Brown (96th at 20:45.7), and Yelm junior Ryleigh Hernandez (100th at 20:47.8) all ran the best 5Ks of their prep careers. Pope John Paul II senior Isla Valpiani also came in 66th place at 20:13.0.
Tenino sophomore Weston Frank was the area’s top runner in the boys bronze race with a PR of 17:52.8, a staggering improvement from his previous best time of 19:36.7. Rochester junior Kian Christiansen, at 18:14.0, earned 28th, and River Ridge junior Maximus Duran’s PR time of 18:36.6 was enough for 50th.
In the top 60 were Rainier sophomore Shane Parker (52nd with a PR of 18:40.7), Tenino senior Josiah Marzolf (54th at 18:42.2) and River Ridge junior Antonio Hopson (56th with a PR of 18:46.7).
Tumwater sophomore Tyler Clark led the area contingent in the boys silver race in 13th place at 16:45.0, just one second away from matching his PR. North Thurston senior Landen Krom was also a tick off his best time, snatching a 30th-place finish at 17:05.1.
