ANNIE FOWLER, The CUJ
HEPPNER — Heppner’s Lily Nichols won the Mustang Invite for the third year in a row, setting a course record with a time of 19 minutes, 18.40 seconds on Thursday, Oct. 2, at Thompson Ranch.
Nichols time eclipsed the course record of 19:44, set by Emma Mullins of The Dalles in 2018. They are the only two female runners to break the 20-minute mark.
The invite, celebrating its 10th anniversary, welcomed runners from 12 teams, with The Dalles winning the girls and boys team titles.
The Dalles girls finished with 38 points, while Heppner had 31 and Nixyaawii 78.
Nixyaawii was led by Emma Star-Nez, who was 17th with a time of 25:33.10. She was followed by Rosaella Salt (18th, 25:50), Shylee Broncheau (22nd, 27:53.80), Ayanna Star (23rd, 31:29.20) and June Johnson (24th, 33:12.40).
For Pilot Rock, Hailey Severe was 15th (23:57.70), while Autumn Severe was 21st (27:38).
Heppner’s Gage Hart won the boys’ race with a PR of 16:12.20, more than 20 seconds ahead of Ethan Beaty of Riverside, who had a PR of 16:43.70.
The Dalles won with 30 points, followed by Riverside (62), Heppner (102), Stanfield (109), McLoughlin (118), Grant Union (123), Pilot Rock (178) and Nixyaawii (198).
Pilot Rock’s Sun Schimmel was just out of the top 10, finishing 11th with a time of 18:27.80. He was followed by Landon Norton (44th, 22:58.10), Ayden Hoeft (49th, 24:22), Parker Bucher (50th, PR 24:42.40) and Mason VanHouten (53rd, 31:01.30).
Bryson Boyd led Nixyaawii, crossing the finish line in 42nd place (PR 22:28.50). Right behind him was Noah Snow (45th, PR 23:26.10), Dresden Farrow (47th, PR 23:46.50), Jeffrey Van Pelt (48th, 23:46.50) and Cashis Bevis (51st, 28:06.60).
