On Saturday, Sept. 9, the Cedarcrest cross country squad competed at the Tahoma Relays at Lake Wilderness Park in Maple Valley, one of 40 schools at the event. This unusual race course includes a half-mile of narrow trail and about 70 meters through the lake.

“We have some really good squads for Tahoma and today we topped them all,” said head coach Bruce McDowell in a report on the meet. The “A Team” of Grant Van Valkenburg, Ben Benson, Emmett Klaiber, Elsie Dombek and Kelly Hall “ran five outstanding legs to finish the day in second place. It was a superb effort by the five of them.”

Athletes of the Meet were Ben Benson, Brennan LeBlanc, Calvin Nelson, Kate Vergillo and Ginger Van Valkenburg. Congrats to the five of them for their efforts today.

The team’s first meet of the season, Sept. 6, was at River Meadows Park in Arlington, with all seven teams from the Cascade Conference. The effect of the smoky weather last week restricted the team’s ability to practice, but the team did well overall.

The girls squad was the overall team winner, led by Kelly Hall who finished third, Elise Dombek sixth, Alicia Krivanek eighth and Mary Cate Babcock ninth.

The boys squad also came away as overall team winner. Grant Van Valkenburg was the individual winner and was followed by Ben Benson third, Emmett Klaiber sixth, Patrick McCabe ninth and Justin Young (10th).

Athletes of the Meet were Patrick McCabe, Brady Shaw, Sawyer Swart, Cecelia Kiesow and Aryia Farnworth.