Hoquiam’s venerable Grizzly Alumni Invitational cross country meet turned into a showcase for North River’s girls.
Ruby Gumaelius and Georgia Clark, representing the tiny Brooklyn school, took the top two female places at the Grizzly Alumni meet on Oct. 7 at Sea Breeze Oval.
Montesano capitalized on depth and favorable scheduling to sweep team honors. The Bulldog boys amassed 26 points to finish 40 ahead of runner-up John Paul II of Olympia. Montesano’s girls, with 24 points, wound up six lower than Willapa Valley — the only other school to field a complete girls team.
Montesano’s boys continued to perfect their pack mentality strategy.
Bulldogs Braden Stowers, Martin Shuck and Andy Fry, were separated by only 13 seconds in sweeping second through fourth places. Stowers was clocked in 17:50.
“I don’t have a standout runner this year. But that’s what I like about this team, everybody works together,” Monte coach James Edwards said. “It doesn’t matter who is leading, as long as they stay in the pack.”
To a lesser extent, the same principle applied to the Bulldog girls. Madolyn Olson was the top Monte runner, placing fourth.
Montesano has often skipped this meet due to conflicts with Homecoming dance activities. Edwards acknowledged that likely would have been the case again this year, but an earlier starting time enabled the Bulldogs to compete.
Boys
1. Jack Farrell (Pope John Paul) 17:03. 2. Braden Stowers (Montesano) 17:50. 3. Martin Shuck (Montesano) 17:54. 4. Andy Fry (Montesano) 18:03. 5. Jordan McKinney (Aberdeen) 18:14. 6. Carlos Juarez (Hoquiam) 18:27. 7. Nathan Ashley (South Bend) 18:28. 9. Thomas Bergstrom (Montesano) 18:30. 9. Forrest Carbaugh (North River) 18:35. 10. Tyler Bristow (Elma) 18:41.
Girls
1. Ruby Gumaelius (North River) 22:43. 2. Georgia Clark (North River) 23:13. 3. Amber Anderson (Willapa Valley) 23:25. 4. Madolyn Olson (Montesano) 23:45. 5. Kaytlynn Correy (North Beach) 24:01. 6. Elizabeth Hunley (Montesano) 25:25. 7. Madison German (Hoquiam) 25:39. 8. Jennifer Cole (Hoquiam) 25:51. 9. Mercy Johnson (Aberdeen) 25:52. 10. Emmaline Kaivo-Houlton (Montesano) 25:53.
