It took three tries to finally get the event in the books but Medical Lake was able to preservere and will now be listed as the two-time defending champions at Clarkston’s Seaport Invitational cross country race.
Postponed twice because of smoke from wildfires, the meet was run last Friday where the Cardinals scored a 38-58 win over Asotin on the boys’ side and won in a tiebreaker over Moscow, Idaho in girls’ competition.
Senior Kelby Wegner helped lead the girls to the eventual team championship with the individual title she won in a time of 19 minutes, 6 seconds over the 3-mile Beachview Park course.
“Kelby ran really, really good, ” Medical Lake head coach Gene Blankenship said. “Two years ago on that course she was 21:44.” Medical Lake showed “significant improvement all down the line,” Blankenship said.
Sakaiya McCoy, a freshman, clocked a time of 19:41.7 to finish sixth overall and second for ML. Sophomore Kaylin Sattler was 10th overall and third on her team with a 20:27.4, Maleeka Wegner, a sophomore, 11th (fourth) at 20:43 and fifth place went to senior Angelique Pineda (13th, 20:53.4). But it was freshman Mariah Kroeze’s 21:24.9 time in sixth place that decided the team title for the Cards.
“A couple of girls out-kicking one person would have made a difference, but it came down to the sixth girl (Kroeze) and we won it,” Blankenship said.
The Cards ran without Brandi Wren, who missed the meet due to illness. “That would have made a difference.”
Once again it was sophomore Micah Dingfield who led the way personally for Medical Lake on the boys’ side. His time of 16:14 earned him third place overall. His nearest Cardinal challenger this time was Domenic Rehm at 16:16. The usual No. 2, Zeb Klemke, missed the Seaport due to another school commitment.
Tim Cherishoff clocked a 16:51 for eighth overall and third for his team with Noah Kroeze 11th at 17:21. Mark Newberry’s 17:23 was good for 12th spot while Luke Alvarado’s 17:37 (13th) rounded out the top-six for the Cardinals.
“Micah, Dominic and Tim all went under 17 (minutes) for the first time,” on a slightly shorter course Blankenship said.
The other difference in the improved times, Blankenship explained, is the fact that the race was run later in the year where runners have had a chance to train longer and compete more than if the meet was contested on its normal mid-September date.
Medical Lake closed out the regular Northeast A League season this past Wednesday versus Riverside and Kettle Falls and next prepare for regionals in Wenatchee Thursday, Oct. 25.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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