Olympic League meet team results

Oct. 20 — The Cedars at Dungeness, Sequim

• Boys 2A

1. Sequim 35

2. Kingston 45

3. Port Angeles 74

4. North Kitsap 86

5. Olympic 130

6. North Mason 162

7. Bremerton 162

• Girls 2A

1. Port Angeles 34

2. Sequim 40

3. North Kitsap 88

4. Kingston 91

5. Olympic 101

6. North Mason 154

7. Bremerton DNQ

A driving rain couldn’t stop Sequim’s boys from repeating as league champions. Only a deep Port Angeles girls team kept the Wolves from making it a clean sweep for the second consecutive season.

Sequim cross country squads took two of the top three individual spots in both varsity races as they easily punched tickets to the West Central District meet, after top-two finishes at the Olympic League Olympic League meet held Oct. 20 at Sequim’s The Cedars at Dungeness golf course.

On the boys’ side, a sophomore-heavy Wolves squad earned their fourth consecutive league title with 35 team points, edging runner-up Kingston by 10 points.

Ash Francis led the way for Sequim, taking second in the 5,000-meter race in 16:30 — about 18 seconds back of league champ Andrew Simon of Kingston.

Last year, Francis was fourth and Simon placed fifth.

Francis said the wet course didn’t bother him too much but that he was disappointed after setting a goal of topping his 2015 mark. He was about 15 seconds off of last season’s pace.

“I had hoped to beat my PR (personal record),” Francis said.

“The big goal (though) was to win league this year and make it to state,” he said. “It’ll be good experience for the whole team.”

Murray Bingham, a Sequim transfer, took third at 16:40.

“Murray’s been a big add; he’s able to push me,” Francis said.

Sequim’s Alec Shingleton clocked in at 17:20 for seventh place while Jazen Bartee was 11th (17:47) and Liam Byrne, fighting off an illness, placed 14th (18:04). Senior Kyle Klopfenstein, the lone non-sophomore on the squad, was 47th (19:35), and Jakob Pyeatt was 49th (19:40).

“Both Ash and Murray ran really smart races,” Sequim coach Michael Cobb said. The plan for the league meet was to see Sequim’s boys make their move at the two-mile mark, Cobb said, and the Wolves did exactly that.

“I’m really proud of their second half of the race,” Cobb said. “I couldn’t have been more pleased.”

On the girls’ side, it was a bit of déjà vu with defending champion Gracie Long of Port Angeles edging taking first with a Sequim High senior in second. This time around it was transfer Morgan Bingham taking the runner-up spot at the league final, clocking in at 19:46 — about nine seconds back of Long.

“She was really powerful on the downhills,” Bingham said of Long, now a three-time Olympic League champ. “She’s a strong runner.”

“I’m proud of Morgan,” Cobb said. “She stayed on Gracie’s shoulder the whole time.”

SHS junior Kiara Pierson improved her league championship placing by four spots and time by more than 30 seconds after taking third overall, in 20:14.

“I made a promise to beat my PR; I did a lot better,” Pierson said.

Cobb said Pierson’s effort was outstanding, particularly keeping up with and eventually passing Klahowya’s Holly Rouse, one of the state’s top 1A athletes.

“That Klahowya girl is great; (now) Kiara is coming up on Morgan,” Cobb said.

Sequim’s Kaitlyn Viada placed 10th with a 22:41 finish, while SHS teammates Noelle Bittner (22:56) and Vita Olsen (23:00) took 13th and 14th, respectively.

Morgan Bingham, who with her brother transferred to Sequim before the school year and in the process boosted both varsity running squads, said with multiple family moves she’s been to a different school each year of high school.

“We’re used to it,” she said. “It’s fun, meeting new people. Sequim was actually a good move for us.”

Emily Silva (31st, 24:58), Madelin Henderson (35th, 25:54) and Telicia Busby (61st, 28:55) rounded up Sequim’s varsity crew.

In junior varsity boys competition, Riley Martin was Sequim’s top runner with a 19:27 finish, good for 10th among 2A schools, helping Sequim place second behind North Kitsap in the 2A team standings.

Looking ahead

The West Central District meet, aka the Westside Classic, is set for Oct. 29 at American Lake Veterans Golf Course in Tacoma.

Featuring the top teams in the district in 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A classifications, races get under way at 10:30 a.m. Sequim and other 2A girls teams start at 12:50 p.m. with the 2A boys’ race starting at 2 p.m.

The top six teams and 42 individuals from each district race advance to the class 2A state meet, set for Nov. 5 in Pasco.