Olympia High School sophomore cross country phenom Quenton Lanese joined the under-15-minute club on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the 18th annual Twilight XC Invitational at Legional Memorial Golf Course in Everett.
Lanese earned his all-time best 5K time of 14 minutes, 59.3 seconds to place first in the boys 3A-4A varsity race, beating the runner-up by 40 seconds. The reigning 4A state runner-up’s previous best time was 15:02.1.
Olympia sophomore Quin Zola crossed the finish line in 30th place at 16:37.6, and senior Jack McDurmon took 37th place at 16:47.6. Junior Liam Doyle ranked 61st with a time of 17:12.8, and sophomore Tai Taylor came in 73rd place at 17:23.3.
The girls 3A-4A varsity race came down to a thrilling finish at the end, as Glacier Peak sophomore Jaya Holt and Olympia sophomore Leah Hennen gunned it at the finish line. Holt just edged out Hennen by the narrowest of margins of .3 seconds. Hennen earned her career-best time of 18:03.3, nine seconds better than her previous, which was set at the NXR Northwest Regional Championships last November.
Olympia sophomore Gemma Stevick had an impressive showing in Everett, finishing in 11th place with a season-best time of 18:56.3, and senior Carolina Schilter was not far behind at 13th place in 19:00.1.
Sophomore Caitlin Lanese set a new PR of 19:43.8., topping her previous mark by nine seconds. Sophomore Eliza Johnson, at 19:52.5, took 34th and picked up her best time of the season, and senior Gretchen Hillier’s PR of 19:56.1 landed her in 36th place.
Sophomore Ellen Cummings rounded out the Bears runners in 63rd place at 21:07.1, helping Olympia finish in second place in the team standings with 82 points behind Centennial’s 67 points.
