ELLENSBURG — In a season-opening outing, Ephrata hit the ground running Saturday at the Ellensburg Invitational Relays coed cross country meet by entering four teams, the fastest of which placed eighth overall. 

The top Tiger crew of Caleb Fitts, Maddax Iverson, Cooper Black, Savannah Harper, and Hannah Malone finished with a combined time of 47 minutes, 18.6 seconds in navigating the 1.5-mile course that included a water crossing. Fitts led the quintet with an individual clocking of 8 minutes, 40.2 seconds, followed by Iverson (8:48.0), Black (9:02.4), Harper (10:21.0), and Malone (10:27.0).

The group, said EHS head coach Lyndsy Roberts, “had a great few months of summer running and that hard work was rewarded with their finish. They ran extremely consistent and put together a solid performance for this early in the season.”

Roberts said his XC runners look forward to the annual event because of its unusual format. 

“The Ellensburg Relays provide a great opening race for the season,” he said. “The coed relay feature helps build team chemistry and the distance of 1.5 miles gives athletes a chance to race fast over a manageable distance. The knee-deep water feature also brings an exciting and memorable moment.” 

Saturday’s invitational attracted more than 30 teams from around the state, including Ellensburg, Ephrata and East Valley (Yakima) from the Central Washington Athletic Conference.

In addition to their top relay team’s showing, there were several impressive performances by other Tiger runners, said their coach.

“Across the board, Ephrata athletes had a strong showing,” Roberts observed. “On the boys’ side, we have quite a bit of depth on the team, and I won’t be surprised to see numerous runners shift into our varsity top seven over the course of the year.”

“The only question,” he added, “is who is going to put in the work and rise to the challenge.”

Roberts said the Tiger girls displayed a strong 1-2-3 grouping that will “make us extremely tough in league racing. The goal will be how they can work together as a team to push each other to go even faster.”

In her first-ever race as a Tiger, sophomore transfer Rebecca Wiser – on Ephrata’s Team 2 squad – ran an impressive time of 10:16.8, placing 15th overall among all girls participating in the co-ed relay race.

“I’m sure (Rebecca) had first-race nerves,” said Roberts, “but she proved to be more than up to the challenge.”

Rounding out the Tiger performances was Josiah Caldwell, competing in one of two open boys races and placing third in his race at 9:58.3. That effort improved his time by more than one minute from last year, Roberts noted. 

A team from Cedar Park Christian School won the coed relay division with a blistering combined time of 43:46.5, finishing ahead of CWAC powerhouse and host Ellensburg’s top squad by about 45 seconds. 

TIGER RELAY TEAM PLACINGS AT ELLENSBURG INVITATIONAL —
(Runners are listed in order of relay position)

Team 1 (8th place, 47:18.6): Cooper Black, 9:02.4; Maddax Iverson, 8:48.0; Savannah Harper, 10:21.0; Hannah Malone, 10:27.0; Caleb Fitts, 8:40.2.

Team 2 (16th place, 50:55.4): Cale Fronsman, 9:08.0; Mitchell Johnson, 9:27.1; Rebecca Wiser, 10:16.8; Annabelle Adams, 12:20.8; Ryan Delgado, 9:42.7.

Team 3 (36th place, 55:47.2): Caleb Schooler, 9:34.6; Louden Leenhouts, 9:54.7; Connor Liffengren, 9:57.7; Madison Harmon, 13:27.4; Sunnie Neff, 12:52.8.

Team 4 (40th place, 56:39.4): Zane Sieg, 10:19.5; Monick Valdez, 13:09.8; Jillian Bair, 13:54.3; Nathan Wolther, 9:25.8; Grant Adams, 10:00.0.