The Yelm and North Thurston high school cross country teams set the Blue Lake Regional Park course ablaze at the Nike Portland XC meet Saturday.
Yelm senior Marcos Andujar now holds the second-fastest time in school history, as he crossed the finish line in 15 minutes and 30.9 seconds to take 25th place out of 236 runners in the boys 5K Danner championship varsity race. His time is 17 seconds faster than his previous personal record, and he is just eight seconds away from the school record of 15:22.3 held by Bryce Cerkowniak.
Fellow Yelm senior Deejay Taylor also moved into fourth place in school history at 19:10.3, taking 72nd in the girls 5K Danner championship varsity race.
Yelm senior Amaya Brown shaved eight seconds off of her best time with an all-time best run of 20:50.8 to finish in 17th place out of 188 runners in the girls 5K blue varsity race. Junior Ryleigh Hernandez was close behind in 25th place with a PR of 21:18.7. Sophomore Sophia Cox (63rd at 22:24.5) and junior Anzu Larson (94th at 23:10.3) also set PRs in that race.
North Thurston’s top runner of the day was senior Landen Krom in the boys 5K green varsity race, as he finished in 18th place with a PR of 17:04.0. Sophomore Lily Aardahl now stands in seventh place in program history at 20:40.8, which was good for 69th out of 158 competitors.
Behind Andujar in the boys 5K Danner championship varsity race, Yelm seniors Peter Robbins (16:18.3) and Kingston Farmer (16:52.7) were among the Tornados runners to set lifetime-best times in Portland.
