The White River High cross country crew made its annual trek to Fort Steilacoom Park Saturday, getting a feel for the course that will later in the season be home to the district meet.

The Hornet boys placed 16th among the 29 teams participating Saturday. They were paced by Marcus Dickson, who finished 25th overall with a time of 16 minutes, 53 seconds. Kody Gould was second for White River, placeing 46th in 17:16, and Sterling Frye was third, 66th with a time of 17:35.

The Hornet girls were led by Lauryn Wate, who ran the 5,000-meter course in 21:00, finishing 35th overall. Kelly Coyle was 59th with a time of 21:39 and Laura Liljeberg was the third Hornet across the line, posting a time of 24:15.

The White River High girls defeated all three opponents the afternoon of Sept. 16, while the Hornets boys won two of three in nonleague cross country action.

Running on their home course behind the high school campus, the Hornets entertained athletes from Yelm, Franklin Pierce and Auburn Mountainview.

The Hornet girls defeated Yelm 25-30, beat Franklin Pierce 15-48 and handled Auburn Mountainview 15-50.

White River’s top female finisher was Wate, who cruised through the 3.1 miles in 20 minutes, 56 seconds to place second overall. Finishing third was Coyle in a time of 21:46.

Other White River girls figuring in the scoring were Kelsey Smith, who placed sixth overall with a time of 23:12; Christina Ramous, eighth, 23:32; and Jessica Gamble, ninth, 23:35.

The Hornet boys defeated Franklin Pierce 25-34 and beat Yelm 21-38, while falling to Auburn Mountainview 23-34.

The top finisher for the White River boys was Dickson, who placed second overall with a time of 17:03. Next across the line for the Hornets was Gould, finishing fifth in 17:43.

Rounding out the Hornets’ top five were Shane Coyle, 11th, 19:14; Tanner Wate, 15th, 20:17; and Zach Schneider, 19th, 21:18.

The Hornets return to action today, Wednesday, heading to the new Cascadia course on the southern fringe of Bonney Lake. It’s the home course of the Sumner Spartans, who will host the meet that also includes Capital High and the Clover Park Warriors.

It will be a South Puget Sound League 3A meet for White River, Sumner and Clover Park; Capital is not a league team.

Saturday, White River will travel north to compete in the Bellevue Invitational.