Cheney High School’s cross country teams returned to action last Saturday, competing in the 41st annual Sunfair Invitational at Yakima’s Franklin Park. The Blackhawks’ boys and girls varsity seven both finished 22nd overall, the boys with 153 points among 39 teams and the girls at 149 points among 25. Cheney’s combined score of 302 points was good for 21st out of 35 teams.
The Sunfair Invitational is structured differently than other multi-team meets, with the seven varsity races being run according to the individual’s team standing, i.e., No. 1 runners run against each other, No. 2 runners against each other and so on over the three-mile course.
Steaven Zachman led the boys, finishing 16th out of 39 runners in the No. 1 runners face with a time of 16 minutes, 3.84 seconds. Kameron Galm was 30th in the No. 2 position race in a time of 17:40.42, with Mason Van Stone 28th in No. 3, Kaleb Lerch 22nd in No. 4, Carson Kerr 24th in No. 5, Matt Christianson 22nd in No. 6 and Luke Huguenin 22nd in No. 7.
Hannah Spakousky was 18th out of 29 runners in the girls’ No. 1 race, leading Cheney’s girls with a time of 20:23.11. Mattie McNair was 20th out of 32 with a time of 20:57.07 in the No. 2 race, followed by Kelsey Schwendiman 32nd out of 40 in No. 3, Alecia Brooks 21st out of 38 in No. 4, Shannen Gladden 29th out of 39 in No. 5, Jessica Vietzke 23rd out of 37 in No. 6 and Lexi Brooks 20th out of 38 in No. 7.
Also competing was Jack Peabody, finishing 32nd out of 153 runners in the sophomore boys race with a time of 18:55.03 and Isaiah Rigo, who was edged by Moses Lake’s Spencer Kimbro for first in the three-mile wheelchair race, finishing with a time of 16:40.
Zachman, Brooks and McNair all turned in faster times than they did at last year’s Sunfair Invitational, although they didn’t finish as high.
“We raced well, but competition was better than last year as well,” head coach Jay Martin said in an email.
The invitational also gave Cheney a look at several Central Washington Athletic Conference teams they may face should the Blackhawks claim one of two top spots out of District 7 competition to advance to regionals. Cheney’s boys finished 39 points behind 15th-place Ellensburg and two points behind Selah in 21st, but were 28 points ahead of 26th-place Ephrata.
The Blackhawks’ girls were 29 points back of Ellensburg (13th) and 19 back of Ephrata (17th) but two points ahead of Selah.
Cheney resumed Great Northern League competition on Wednesday, Oct. 8, hosting West Valley at Salnave Park. The Blackhawks travel to the Tri-Cities for the Richland Invitational this Saturday.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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