Cardinal boys take a win at Wenatchee Invitational

The Medical Lake cross country team’s trip to Wenatchee last Saturday proved to be a successful one.

The Cardinals varsity and junior varsity boys brought home first-place team finishes from the Wenatchee Invitational while the girls placed fifth in the varsity competition at Walla Walla Point Park.

Quintin Collins led the varsity boys, placing fourth overall with a time of 16 minutes, 44 seconds and was followed closely by freshman Reid Headrick in fifth in 16:54. Angel Mendeze posted a top-10 finish, crossing the line ninth in 17:10.87, with Victor Long and Benjamin Henry 12th and 13th in 17:18 and 17:21 respectively to wrap up the Cardinals scoring.

Connor Palmen was 26th and Jeremiah Windle was 31st. Medical Lake scored 43 points, well ahead of Ellensburg’s second-place total of 72 with fellow Northeast A League opponent Deer Park well back in the pack, finishing12th out of 14 teams.

Paige Headrick led Medical Lake’s varsity girls, finishing seventh overall in 20:51 with Allison Payne in ninth in 20:57. Jenna Castro and Grace Grubaugh were 32nd and 33rd in 22:38 and 22:48 with Maris Tuck wrapping up the scoring of the Cardinals 119 points by finishing 50th in 24:18.

Katie Hiatt was 56th and Mayah Eberhardt finished 57th. Ellensburg won the team title with 62 points while NEA Deer Park was second with 68.

Kyler Castro led the Medical Lake boys JV to a first place finish, hitting the tape first in 18:15, followed by Thomas Collins in third, Vincent Long in fourth, Sam Orenlas in seventh and Marcos Vaamonde in 24th.

Cardinals head coach Gene Blankenship had high praise for his teams, noting in a Facebook post that “We had a great day!”

Blankenship said that in a hypothetical rating system, Medical Lake’s boys would be ranked in second place in both District 7 and 1A state rankings behind fellow NEA opponent Lakeside, while the girls would be ranked third in league and districts, eighth in state.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].