KINGSTON — In the first showdown of the season between elite cross country runners, Riley Pyeatt of Sequim and Lauren Larson of Port Angeles, Pyeatt came out the winner, nipping Larson by nine seconds.
Pyeatt won the girls’ dual at Kingston High School, running a 5,000-meter time of 19 minutes, 8.03 seconds. Larson finished second right behind her with a time of 19:17.9.
Overall, the Sequim girls won with 24 team points to the Roughriders’ 31 (Like golf, lower scores are better in cross country).
The two rivals were nearly four minutes ahead of third place. Coming in third was the Roughriders’ Kathryn Guttormsen with a time of 22:57.7. Fourth was Sequim’s Jessica German (22:58.1), followed by her teammates Anastasia Updike (fourth, 23:02.9) and Macy Cogburn (fifth, 23:09.1).
The Riders’ Jenna McGoff came in seventh with a time of 24:59.8, Sequim’s Aidyn Shingleton was eighth (25:00.9), Port Angeles’ Emma Weaver ninth (26:51.8), Port Angeles’ Gracie Townsend 10th (27:37.9) and Sequim’s Lexi King 11th (31:49.5).
In the boys’ race, the Riders’ Jack Gladfelter came in first with a time of 17:27.0 as Port Angeles took seven out of the top eight slots, as Sequim had just three runners competing and there were no team scores.
Coming in second was the Wolves’ Colby Ellefson with a time of 17:47.6. Third was the Riders’ Joshua Gavin (18:02.8), followed by Naaman McGuffey (PA, fourth, 18:03.1); Langdon Larson, (PA, fifth, 18:15.0); Maxwell Baeder (PA, sixth, 18:51.4); Adam Borde (PA, seventh, 19:27.6); Lucas Gavin (PA, eighth, 19:27.8), Henry Hughes (Sequim, ninth, 20:19.2) and Henry Shaw (PA, 10th, 20:34.2).
East Jefferson also competed against Klahowya. The Eagles barely nipped East Jefferson in the girls’ race, 27-29.
Klahowya’s Alyssa Becker won the race with a time of 18:40.8, but East Jefferson picked up second- through fourth-place finishes. Camryn Hines came in second with a time of 21:48.5, while Fiona Fraser was third at 21:59.5 and Aliyah Yearian was fourth at 22:09.3.
East Jefferson’s Sylvia Butterfield was ninth (28:22.7), Riley Gravener 11th (31:04.1) and Sophia Lymsdane 12th (31:27.8).
In the boys’ race, Max Allworth-Miles led the way for East Jefferson, coming in third with a time of 18:09.6. Sebastian Manza was sixth (19:27.1), while Ocean Smith was 14th (24:27.6), Indigo Gould 16th (25:27.0) and Braley Phillips 17th (26:21.5).
Klahowya won the team competition 19-42.