A soggy day was a good day for the Cedarcrest High School cross country teams, who both took top scores in their first regular conference meet of the season.

The Red Wolves raced last Thursday, Sept. 16, against Archbishop Murphy and South Whidbey at Murphy’s home course at McCollum Park.

In the girls’ race, Cedarcrest had three of the top 4 and 5 of the top 10. Cara Strodel ran comfortably from the front for the victory, followed by Jessica Beam in third and Tia Smith in fourth.

Head coach Bruce McDowell said he was especially encouraged by the performance by younger team members, as five freshmen and a sophomore finished as runners in fourth through ninth place.

“Get them some experience, and we’ll see what we’ve got,” he told the Valley Record by e-mail.

In the boys’ race, Cedarcrest had six boys in the top 9, led by Mitchell Montgomery at third) and Chad Linnerooth at fourth place. Dominic Dams, Logan Orndorf and Gibson Lisk stepped up in the top five team runners.

“Not only do we have some people up from the front, but we also are a deep team,” McDowell said. “We put 20 boys in the top 37. That is pretty good sign.”

Athletes of the meet were Dominic Dams, Logan Orndorf and Olivia Waterman.