Runners hold their stride at Oroville meet

The Raiders sent only eight runners to Oroville, Saturday, where five Lake Roosevelt boys and three girls held their own as they view the post season in the near future.

That number of boys put the team at the minimum to run as a varsity squad, while the girls all ran as individuals. This did not hamper the runners as all present continued to hold their own, either improving on or maintaining their times from last week. This is where the Raiders want to be as the postseason looms on the horizon.

Lukas Hermetz continues to lead the Raider boys, finishing 21st at Oroville with the time of 19 minutes, 3 seconds. Kendall Piccolo finished second after Hermetz, taking 34th with his time of 20:08. Mary Ann Matheson led the girls’ squad by finishing 10th in 23:13. Charli Knight and Clare Castrodale were the two other Raider girls running. Knight finished 28th with a solid time of 27:22, near her career personal record. Castrodale came in at 29:43 to finish 33rd.

Finishing shortly after Piccolo was Brandon Desautel, who came across the finish line in 20:16 for 35th place. Oscar Pakootas finished 41st in 20:50, within a minute of his best.

Zach Erickson continues to show drastic improvement over his times from a year ago. At Oroville last year Erickson ran a 25:07 race; this year at the same course he ran exactly three minutes faster, finishing at 22:07.

This week the Raiders will hope to have full squads as they travel to Winthrop for the league championship race. The Central Washington 2B Cross Country Championship race will feature squads from Oroville, Liberty Bell, Manson, Pateros, and Riverside Christian. Races will begin at 1:45 p.m. at Liberty Bell High School this Saturday.