Olympia High School sophomore sensation Quenton Lanese moved one step closer to running a sub-14-minute time Saturday at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational.
He won the boys gold race in 15 minutes and 2.1 seconds for a new personal best. He narrowly defeated Mead’s Stejer Franklin by just .7 seconds.
Lanese improved his time on the Fort Steilacoom Park course by 17 seconds as he took third at 15:30.3 last fall.
Yelm senior Marcos Andujar set a new personal best at 15:47.2, good for 15th place. He vastly improved his time from last year, shaving off 38 seconds. Fellow Yelm senior Peter Robbins took 48th at 16:24.2.
Senior Jack McDurmon was Olympia’s second finisher in 57th place with a new PR of 16:42.6, and Olympia sophomore Quin Zola also set a new lifetime best at 16:49.2 to take 70th place. Olympia junior Liam Doyle’s 77th-place time of 16:57.2 was enough for a PR.
Capital senior Jae Walz finished in 76th place at 16:57.1, and Capital sophomore Quin Walz took 80th at 17:01.8.
In the girls gold race, Olympia sophomore Leah Hennen clinched a fifth-place time of 18:48.4. Teammate Gemma Stevick, also a sophomore, also impressed in 13th place at 19:08.9, and Olympia senior Carolina Schilter came in 17th at 19:28.7.
Yelm senior Deejay Taylor finished in 19th place at 19:32.0, and Olympia sophomore Eliza Johnson took 32nd with a time of 20:18.8. Olympia sophomore Caitlin Lanese earned a 37th-place time of 20:32.3, and Olympia senior Gretchen Hillier crossed the finish line in 42nd place by way of a PR of 20:45.3. Olympia sophomore Ellen Cummings secured a PR at 21:29.1 to take 52nd place, and junior Sofia Dunlap took 57th at 21:55.6.
North Thurston sophomore Lily Aardahl was the area’s top finisher in the girls silver race, crossing the finish line with a PR of 21:15.5 to take 34th place. Yelm senior Amaya Brown was close behind with a PR of her own of 21:26.6 for 38th, and teammate Ryleigh Hernandez, a junior, secured her best time yet at 21:52.5 for 55th place.
Capital freshman Emma Lamont took almost two minutes off of her previous 5K time and was the first Cougar across the finish line in 80th place at 22:50.5, and Capital senior Bella Lang also improved her time by nearly two minutes at 22:52.5 for 83rd place.
In the boys silver race, Tumwater sophomore Tyler Clark was the top Thurston County runner in 23rd place with a time of 17:07.4. North Thurston senior Landen Krom landed a 29th-place finish at 17:12.6.
Tumwater teammates James Smith (PR of 17:46.7 for 61st), Hayden Newman (17:47.2 at 62nd), and Landon Martin (17:55.2 for 70th) earned top-70 times. Tumwater junior Will Zahn was close behind in 75th with a PR of 18:02.6.
Tumwater Alexandra Broome took the top prize in the girls bronze race at 19:32.2, and Rainier’s Komaire Robles earned sixth at 20:52.7. River Ridge senior Rylea Moss ran her best race yet at 21:15.1 to finish in 11th place. River Ridge junior Xyla Camp came in 42nd place at 22:53.4, a PR. Rainier freshman Rylee Wilson shined in her second 5K with a 50th-place finish at 23:23.4.
In the boys bronze race, River Ridge sophomore Miles Liedtke beat his previous best 5K time by nearly a minute, finishing in fourth place at 17:44.5. Rainier freshman Brando Gallardo Mendoza took 24th at 18:41.0, his best time yet.
River Ridge junior Maximus Duran’s PR time of 18:55.8 was good enough for 33rd place, and Rochester freshman Sawyer Ketter had another strong race at 18:56.5 to take 34th. River Ridge senior Xavier Duran also set a PR at 19:18.6, finishing in 41st.
Capital boys head coach Mike Lunde was impressed with his entire team’s performance, including Weston Ridgeway and Emmanuel Saenz Barragan nearly breaking the 20-minute barrier in the freshman race and Levi Parker running nearly 30 seconds faster in the junior varsity 22-to-24-minute race.
“Our varsity team in the gold division had the awesome experience of racing with the best teams from across the state,” Lunde said. “While we would’ve had a dominating win in the silver division, our athletes took the courageous step of taking on the competition in the prestigious gold division. All of our returning athletes improved their times from the same race last year, and three of our varsity athletes had significant improvements.”
Capital girls head coach Joy Fulling said her team embraced the mentality of “I will choose courage over comfort,” repeating the phrase at the start line.
“That is exactly what they went out and did,” she said. “Sierra Newell had what I would call a ‘breakthrough’ race of the season, Abby Ding continues to push through, setting a perfect example of ‘I do it anyway,’ and Isla Powell gave a performance I would call ‘silent by deadly’ to move up to varsity for this week’s race. We are exactly where we need to be for this time of the season.”
