The Ellensburg Invitational provided the Enumclaw High cross country program a positive start to the 2018 season.

“It was fantastic to be back on the east side of the mountains after the cancellation of last year’s meet due to poor air quality,” girls coach Tod Witzel wrote in a meet summary. “The 2018 race format was a new experience for our athletes.”

Runners were divided into teams of five, made up of three boys and two girls each, and 13 schools attended the meet. Another twist was a 40-meter segment of racing through People’s Pond in 24 to 30 inches of water.

“Our young squad was able to gain some valuable race experience and some of our athletes recovering from minor injuries and sickness were able to heal up without taxing themselves too much in this jamboree environment,” Witzel wrote.

Among the meet highlights: Enumclaw boys place first and the EHS girls were second, when factoring hypothetical meet scores; Sam Lingwall, Dominic Deady and Jacob Dickson posted the top three overall relay split times at People’s Pond; Payton Roberson clocked a relay split in the top five at Irene Rhineheart Riverfront Park; the co-ed team of Lingwall, Piper Laymen, Deady, Roberson and Dickson placed second overall; and the co-ed team of Kyle Revell, Megan Ogburn, Seth Coons, Kristen Dickson and Nathan Erickson placed fifth overall.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS FOR EHS RUNNERS:

Girls

Payton Roberson, 10:10

Piper Laymen, 10:17

Megan Ogburn, 10:58

Kristen Dickson, 11:05

Mikeala Schulz, 11:20

Vanessa Sanders, 12:16

Rachael Schaffett, 12:24

Ashley Doty, 12:26

Evie Kuper, 12:59

Boys

Sam Lingwall, 7:53

Dominic Deady, 7:56

Jacob Dickson, 8:10

Seth Coons, 8:31

Kyle Revell, 8:37

Billy Staley, 9:38

Aiden Madil, 9:40

Noah Simacek, 9:52

Carter Eldridge, 9:57

Anthony Martinez, 10:13

Derek Sanders, 10:23

Nathan Erickson, 10:38

Quinn Avolio, 10:55

Dylan Watts, 10:57

Sayer Dodd, 11:43

Ryan Weeks, 11:48

Cameron Gwerder, 13:24

Report provided by Tod Witzel