Sumner High’s cross country squad came out of the gate quickly as both the girls and boys groups beat Washington and Fife Thursday afternoon in the South Puget Sound League 2A opener for all three.

While the girls won their meets 21-34 over Washington and 20-43 over Fife, the boys beat Washington 24-34 and Fife 17-44.

“I cannot say enough about how hard these boys have worked during this rebuilding process,” coach Kristen Martin said. “Many of them were dealing with sprains, colds, etc., and tonight they just gave it all they had to get the wins for us.”

Sumner’s boys were led by the second-place clocking of sophomore Jose Hernandez, who finished at 16 minutes, 14 seconds. The Spartans Coltin Tanner, Cory Brandt, Josh Goodsell and Jobe Layton were all right behind Hernandez with times of 16:18, 16:22, 17:02 and 17:04, respectively.

“The girls also crossed the finish line in a pack, which makes any coach very happy,” Martin said.

Sumner’s Gabby Phelps finished third in the girl’s race with a time of 19:32. Hot on her heels were Tyeanne Lubking at 20:05, Natasha Wilson, 20:06, Abby Hensler, 20:15, and Leah Engelhardt, 20:23.

Martin was impressed with the hard work and fine showings of Wilson and Hensler.

“We had a great meet in beating both Washington and Fife and I can’t wait to see how the remainder of the league season plays out for these hard-working kids,” she said.