By ANNIE FOWLER, The CUJ
Nixyaawii made a strong showing among the big schools at the Wallowa County Invitational, with Sun Schimmel breaking into the top 20 by placing 19th with a time of 20:33.6 at Wallowa Lake State Park.
Also scoring for the Golden Eagles were Noah Piercen (22:41.9), Waptas Brockie (22:58.3), Wyatt Withers (23:17.8), and Ellis Ashley (26:24.7).
Jett Leavitt of Enterprise won the race with a time of 16:23, while Josef Simonis of La Grande was second with a time of 17:53.8.
Union won the team title with 37 points, while Enterprise was second (48), La Grande was third (57), Umatilla was fourth (130), Imbler was fifth (132) and Nixyaawii was sixth (144).
Pilot Rock finished third in the junior varsity team race with 76 points.
The Rockets were led by Carter Ford, who was seventh with a time of 20:59.9. Also scoring for Pilot Rock were Ayden Hoeft (22:32.1), Lewis Hansen (22:49.4), Landon Norton (24:58.1) and Elisha Sanchez (25.55.4).
In the girls’ race, Ciicyle Thompson (29:40.7) was the lone Golden Eagle.
La Grande’s Brooke Perry was the first to cross the finish line, clocking in at 19:18.1, nearly a minute ahead of Pine Eagle’s Lindsey Brown (20:06.9).
Enterprise won the team title with 55 points, followed by Imbler (63), Union (71), La Grande (76), Heppner (80), Umatilla (152) and Elgin (173).
Pilot Rock freshman Hailey Severe placed ninth in the junior varsity race with a time of 26:26.3.
HAWK INVITE — Pendleton Evelyn Hayes finished 19th overall with a time of 24:00.1 to lead the Bucks to a sixth-place finish at Ft. Walla Walla.
Cora Crawford of Moscow, Idaho, won the race with a time of 20:23.69, while Hermiston won the team title with 26 points as its top five runners placed in the top nine.
Also scoring for the Bucks were Madelyn Lieuallen (21st, 24:25.83), Marion Oliver (44th, 29:06.02), Seely Hemphill (45th, 29:18.73) and June Reynolds (47th, 30:01.14).
In the boys’ race, Pendleton finished eighth in the team race, led by Maliki Adams (70th, 20:51.22).
Hermiston freshman Leroy Lozano Mejia won the race with a time of 16:27.75, while Moscow, Idaho, won the team title with 53 points.
Eagle Edmiston (85th, 21:37.02) followed Adams across the finished line, while Damien Vega (87th, 21:54.76), Garian McDonald (103rd, 22:46.47) and Jack Broadfoot (106th, 23:05.30) contributed to the scoring for the Bucks.
