Sep. 8—The Astoria boys finished third out of 19 teams in the 1A to 4A division of the annual Ultimook cross-country race, held Saturday at Hydrangea Ranch in Tillamook.
Philomath took the top spot with 69 points, followed by Shelton, Washington, (107) and the Fishermen (148).
Astoria’s top runner was junior John Clement (15th, 18 minutes, 21 seconds over the 5,000-meter course).
Behind a third-place individual finish for junior Isaiah Rodriguez (16:50), Knappa placed ninth. Senior Zander Moha took eighth (18:01) for Warrenton, which did not score as a team.
In the girls’ 1A to 4A race, Astoria junior Ella Zilli was eighth out of 88 runners in 21:59, and Seaside freshman Layla Varozza was 23rd (23:37).
“It’s early in the season and we have a lot to be happy about with how we ran today,” said Astoria coach Andrew Fick. “It was a warm day to race, but our runners stepped up and looked strong. We had some really solid races and gained a lot of experience. After the past year, it’s a bit like waking up from hibernation.
“We were grateful for what we had last year, but it feels good to get back to that cross-country experience that everyone loves.”
He added, “our guys were pretty happy to be bringing home a trophy. Ella and Keira (Long) both ran great races as well, and you can tell that they’ve been putting in the work with how they both raced today. We have a great group of runners this year, with a good mix of experience and newcomers.”
Gulls cancel 3-Course meet
In other cross-country news, host Seaside has decided to cancel the 2021 3-Course Challenge meet, which was scheduled for Sept. 25 at Camp Rilea. Last year’s event was also canceled.
“We simply could not staff our first aid area,” said Neil Branson, former Seaside coach who co-directs the meet with Kerri Boutin. “Health care providers have been stretched to the limit, and to press them into further work would not be right.”
He added, “the good people at Camp Rilea had provided some parameters about the number of kids running at one time and the need to move teams on and off the base in an expedient manner.
“We were going to have a very different looking meet, and dare I say very interesting,” he said of the meet, which has drawn thousands of runners and nearly 100 schools in the past. “We are disappointed. Coaches from schools that were going to come are disappointed and yet fully understand and support our decision to make the health of kids and coaches our number one priority … 2022 here we come.”