Running with the best prep runners in the state, Sequim’s cross country squads brought home some hardware and a pair of top-12 finishes.

Sequim’s senior-laden boys team took third and the SHS girls were 12th at the 2A state championships in Pasco on Nov. 7, their best combined finish since 2008.

That season, Sequim’s girls took fourth and boys were 11th.

“It’s really a good year when you get both (teams) there,” Sequim head coach Harold Huff said.

On the boys’ side, perennial state boys’ 2A title contender Sehome was simply too much for Sequim, Liberty-Issaquah and all other challengers.

“Sehome was better than I thought they were; they were really strong,” Huff said. “There wasn’t anybody (who was) going to beat them. They’ve got that huge program, massive numbers. It just allows you to come up with teams every year.”

Led by seniors Colton Johnsen (second place) and Riley Allsop (third), Sehome tallied 55 team points, outpacing Liberty (112), Sequim (124) and Lindberg (159).

Senior Brendon Despain led the SHS boys with a ninth-place individual finish, covering the 5,000 meters in 16:05 — 33 seconds better than his 2014 performance.

Fellow senior Jackson Oliver was just nine seconds back of his teammate in 14th place (16:14).

“I thought Brendon and Jackson had outstanding races,” Huff said.

Ash Francis was 32nd overall with a 16:36 finish and was the second-fastest freshman in the boys’ 2A race; Kyle Radosevic of Ridgefield was 22nd at 16:21.

“Ash ran a solid race, good solid race — and he’s only going to get faster,” Huff said. “He’s going to do great in this sport.”

SHS seniors Wendall Lorenzen (16:50) was 45th, Chris Jeffko was 58th (16:57), C.J. Daniels (17:08) was 72nd and Christian Ash (19:12) was 134th.

For Lorenzen, it was a personal best over 5,000 meters by 13 seconds and his first 5k mark under 17 minutes.

“(Wendall) has been fantastic as the season’s progressed; he had a great race Saturday,” Huff said. “The other guys ran good races (but) they’ve run better races.”

On the girls’ side, SHS senior Waverly Shreffler ran to a sixth-place finish with a 19:12 mark over 5,000 meters. The finish was 50-second and 27-place improvement over her 2014 effort at the 2014 state meet.

“Waverly … ran a good, steady race,” Huff said. “She just kept picking off runners.”

Huff credits the miles Shreffler logged during the offseason.

“It’s the mileage; she’s so much faster this year because she trained over the summer,” Huff said. “She’s got the gift of speed to start with but that only gets you so far.”

Sequim sophomore Kiara Pierson and senior Audrey Shingleton finished in a virtual dead heat with 21:12 marks, good for 86th and 87th, respectively.

SHS junior Elizabeth Rosales was 118th at 22:28, senior Emily Webb came in at 122nd (23:00), sophomore Noelle Bittner was 128th with a 23:08 mark, and senior Alexis Cromer was 130th at 23:16.

“All the girls ran a great race,” Huff said, noting that Sequim’s girls beat two teams at state — White River and Lindberg — they placed behind at districts just a week before.

Liberty-Issaquah’s girls, who placed third last year, won the 2015 team title, with defending champ Sehome in second.

Reach Michael Dashiell at editor@sequimgazette.com.