Cross country: Franco leads Kamiakin boys to team title at Sundodger

SUNDODGER INVITATIONAL: Jonah Franco won the boys race in a time of 15 minutes, 15.09 second to lead Kamiakin to the team title with 20 points.

Ryan Child was third overall for the Braves, covering the 4,922-meter course at Lincoln Park in Seattle in 15:24.60.

Also for Kamiakin, Porter Grigg (15:34.36) finished fifth, Stanford Smith (15:39.21) was sixth, and Peyton Hill (16:06.21) wrapped up the scoring with a ninth-place showing.

Walla Walla finished second in the team standings with 76 points. Cooper Cortinas (15:47.19) led the Blue Devils with a seventh-place finish.

In the girls races, Walla Walla’s Ella Nelson finished fourth in a time of 18:51.94 to help the Blue Devils to third place in the team standings.

Central Valley won the team title with 40 points, with Northwest second with 48. Wa-Hi had 88.

Northwest’s Isa Meyers won the race in 18:00.43.

APPLE RIDGE INVITATIONAL: Hanford Grace Arnold sped past Selah’s Molly Mattson in 18:47.7 to claim victory in the most challenging of the three varsity races and lead the Falcons to a girls team title in Cowiche.

Megan Wright ran a PR of 19:54.3 to take third behind Arnold and Mattson. The Falcons put three runners on the podium in each of the other two races, with Kendra Keller (19:22, 2nd), Kristin Pilgrim (19:28.4, 3rd) and Aayiana Fuller (19:48.1, 6th) placing in the mostly-flat first race, and Kathryn Bushman (19:16.1, 3rd), Amber Skouson (19:45.4, 7th) and Madline Dawson (20:22.5, 10th) picking up ribbons in the middle-difficulty second race.

On the boys side, junior Caleb Olson was peerless in the third race, with his 15:29.9 giving him more than a minute-long victory over the field. Freshman Kenneth Taylor took ninth in the first race with a 17:01.4, and the Falcons placed second, behind Eastmont, in the large-school team standings.

Pasco’s Ismael Castaneda turned in a 15:44.1 to place second in the boys second race, and Christian Castrellon made it onto the podium in the third race with a 17:19.3 to take 10th. Royal’s Silver Beltran (16:56, 7th boys third), Rodolfo Flores (16:30.4, 6th boys second) and Kay Lester (20:03, 4th girls third), and Tri-City Prep’s Celeste Davis (20:52.1, 6th girls third), Jacoby Wieber (16:52.9, 5th boys third) also placed.

FORT STEILACOOM INVITATIONAL: Richland finished seventh in the team standings, and Southridge was 12th in the boys Gold Varsity race in Lakewood.

Riley Moore (15:41.50) placed sixth overall for the Bombers.

James Mwaura of Lincoln won the race in a time of 15:03, 28 seconds ahead of the next runner.

Richland’s Jesse Todd finished 22nd (16:19), while Tristan Robinson (17:12) was the top man for the Suns, crossing the finish line in 58th place.

In the girls Gold Varsity race, Richland’s Katie Andrus was 12 overall in a time of 19:15.90, with teammate Emma Summers (20.05.80) 26th.

Kamiakin’s McKinzi Teeples was third in the Silver Varsity race in a time of 19:49.10. Teammate Hannah Paulson (20:31.20) was ninth, and Chloe Scott (20:35.20) 12th.

Lizzie Stites (20:30.60) was the top finisher finisher for Southridge, coming in 16th.

SEAPORT INVITATIONAL: Kennewick’s Johan Correa turned in a time of 15:27.69 to finish second at Beachview Park in Clarkston, while his younger sister, Geraldin, was second in the girls race in time of 19:10.04.

College Place’s Kenneth Rooks won the boys race in a time of 15:7.56.

Austin Bachman (13th, 17:04.31) and Gabe Morales (14th, 17:15.12) were the top two finishers for Chiawana, which finished sixth in the team scoring with 196 points. Kennewick (218) was seventh. Lewiston won the team title with 59 points.

Becky George of Deer Park won the girls race in 19:06.77, and led the Stags to the team title with 49 points.

Chiawana, led by Alexa Neff (12th, 20:26.67), finished fourth in the team standings (111 points), while Kennewick was sixth (180) and College Place 10th (230).

This story was originally published September 16, 2017 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Cross country: Franco leads Kamiakin boys to team title at Sundodger."