Valley Christian runners win boys Can-Am

KETTLE FALLS – One of the smallest schools in the annual Can-Am Invitational cross country meet was the biggest winner Sept. 23.

The Valley Christian boys won the meet with a team low score of 36 points.

Brewster was second with 52, Colville third with 69, Wellpinit fourth with 82 and Deer Park fifth with 105.

Valley Christian junior Daniel Hisel paced the field, running the 5,000-meter varsity course in 19:29 to finish first.

Teammate sophomore Chase Sturgis finished third in 19:59. And junior Kade Mariner was 9th in 20:57.

The only other Valley Christian to break into the Top 20 was senior Nathan Moore, who finished 12th in 21:18.

The Valley Christian girls didn’t have enough runners to be scored as a team.

But that didn’t stop junior Melissa Walker from making a showing in the Top 10.

Walker finished her race in 8th-place with a time of 21:54.

Junior teammate Manda Walker was a distant 38th place with a time of 24:24.

The local runners were back running Tuesday, Sept. 26, in a league meet in Republic.

For the boys, junior Mica Bilbruck was second for Valley Christian, completing the race in 17:46.13.

Sophomore teammate Wesley Hendrickson was 6th in 18:27.14.

No other Valley Christian boys brok into the Top 30.

But six Valley Chrstian runners completed the course en masse.

Hisel was 34th in 21:32.25, freshman Matthew Moore was 35th in 21:32.68, junior Job Hill was 36th in 21:33.06, junior Connor Simonds was 37th in 21:33.47, Sturgis 38th in 21:33.97 and Mariner 39th in 21:34.96.

Valley Christian girls were again paced by Walker, who finished 8th in 22:51.56.

Sophomore teammates Lilyanna Boomer finished 18th in 25:18.66, Aubre Hopson 21st in 26:34.79 and Ameila Shutts 28th in 28:11.12.

On Saturday, Sept. 30, the Valley Christian runners will compete in one of the largest cross country meets in Eastern Washington, the sixth annual Battle for the 509.

The meet includes several other Spokane Valley-area teams as well, including Central Valley, East Valley, Freeman, Ridgeline, and University.

There will also be middle school and junior varsity divisions.

Races begin at 9 a.m. at the Spokane Polo Grounds, 7714 W. Sunset Highway, Spokane.