ELLENSBURG — The Ephrata cross country teams battled windy conditions in a three-team dual meet Thursday, Sept. 25 against Othello and host Ellensburg, whose boys and girls squads are both currently fifth in the state Class 2A rankings, according to the Washington State Coaches Poll.

On the girls side, Ellensburg edged Ephrata, 24-35, but the Tigers topped the Huskies, 19-42. Similarly in the boys races, Ellensburg defeated Ephrata, 18-43, but Ephrata secured a 16-47 win over Othello.

While all the runners had to contend with steady 20-mph winds and gusts reaching 30, the Tigers still managed to produce some standout performances.

In the girls race, Ellensburg’s June Nemrow placed first, crossing the finish line in 19:39.33 on the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course. But Ephrata has a strong showing, placing three runners in the top five.

The Tigers' Hannah Malone finished third overall, clocking in at 20:43.42. She was closely followed by teammates Savannah Harper in fourth at 20:46.93 and Rebecca Wiser fifth in 20:53.08.

“Savannah showed just how much improvement she has made this year,” Ephrata coach Lyndsy Roberts said. “Despite the windy conditions, she improved her time over the previous year by 2 minutes, 40 seconds.”

Sunnie Neff placed 22nd (25:46.43) and Annabelle Adams 23rd (26:06.66) to round out Ephrata's top-five scoring runners.

On the boys’ side, Mystic Hammond of Ellensburg won the race with a time of 16:45.00.

Ephrata also put three runners in the top 10. Caleb Fitts led with a fourth-place finish in (17:35.78), followed by Maddax Iverson sixth in (17:42.13) and Cooper Black 10th in (18:20.80). Niko Diaz came through 12th (18:30.45), with Louden Leenhouts 14th (18:45.98).

Roberts also commended the effort of Tiger Ryan Delgado (19:26.54), who cut more than two minutes off last year’s time.

“Ryan is developing into a high-level cross country runner,” Roberts said. “If he keeps his motivation and passion for this sport, he will be one to watch.”

Multiple Ephrata athletes were competing in their first varsity 5K, Roberts noted.

“We’ve got a great group of young athletes working extremely hard,” he said. “They are learning with every race and will continue to get stronger and faster. More importantly, the team atmosphere is A-plus right now and athletes are learning to support one another in this difficult sport.”

Next up, the Tigers travel to Spokane for the 8th annual Battle for the 509 Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Spokane Polo Grounds.