These Wolves are just getting warmed up.
Senior Audrey Lichten cruised to a win while Sequim’s boys swept their Olympic League foes Bremerton and Klahowya on Wednesday at Robin Hill Farm Park, Sequim’s lone regular home meet of the season and the first league competition of the young season.
Sequim’s Adrian Clifford, Alex Jenkins and Joel Christopher finished 1-2-3 as Sequim edged Klahowya by seven points (25-32). Bremerton was third with 79 team points.
"It was a hard workout," Jenkins said. "We had it already planned out (to run with the rest of the team)."
That plan seemed to work, as Sequim’s Christopher ran with the lead pack and tracked down Klahowya leader Derris Davis in the final stretch for third.
Teammates Joe Dapcevich (seventh), Brogan Vesterby (11th) and Dylan Chatters (12th) followed close behind.
Clifford and the Wolves already are looking toward the postseason, just four weeks away, when they’ll do battle for state spots in a 21-team district meet.
"I know we’ll do good," Clifford said." We’ll just have to push those guys. We want the team at state."
Aiming for her fourth state berth in as many years is Lichten, who breezed by the competition to finish in 18 minutes, 36 seconds – nearly three minutes ahead of runner-up Emily Kreifels of Klahowya.
"It was a little too comfortable," said the Sequim High senior. "We run on these trails. I was shooting for time throughout the race … but it’s hard."
Bremerton’s girls won in team scoring with 23 points, followed by Sequim (41). Klahowya had just three runners and did not qualify for team scoring.
Sequim’s Jasmine McMullin finished seventh with a 22:49 finish; Sequim’s Heather Murray was ninth (23:10), Natalie McMurray was 13th (26:11) and Amelia Ohnstad was 17th (27:11).
Sequim coach Harold Huff said Wednesday’s results were mixed. He noted that Clifford and Jenkins weren’t "gassed" after pacing the rest of the team and praised the rest of the squad, particularly Christopher.
"The girls are still a work in progress," Huff said. "But they’ve been running well. It’s difficult for Audrey; she’s basically running by herself."
That won’t likely be the case this week, as Sequim takes on North Kitsap and Kingston in Poulsbo on Sept. 29. Kingston’s girls are ranked No. 2 in the state while both of North Kitsap’s teams are just out of the top 10 rankings.
Sequim is at Port Town-send on Oct. 6. The Redskins’ boys are ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ poll for 1A schools.
Lichten gets top 15 at Bellevue
Lichten said she figured the Bellevue Invitational, a race annually attended by some of the top prep runners in the region, would be a good early-season test for her.
The Sequim senior posted a strong finish, completing the 5,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 11 seconds, good for 15th overall in the varsity girls 1-2 (top two) race. Teammate Jasmine McMullin was 44th in the same race, finishing in 22:40.
Sequim’s Christopher had the top individual placing on the boys’ side, taking 17th in the boys varsity 3-4 race with a 17:45 finish. Joe Dapcevich (18:36) was 41st in the same race.
Clifford finished 25th in the boys varsity 1-2 race, completing the 5K course in 17 minutes, 37 seconds.
