Raider cross country team runs with purpose

The Lake Roosevelt Raider cross country team ran at Omak Golf Course and at Wenatchee’s Walla Walla Point Park this past week.

At Omak on Sept. 18 for the Okanogan Invite, the Raiders hit the ground running on grass, gravel, and pavement throughout the course.

“Okanogan went great,” said Coach Ann Green. “We have lots of improvements, we have personal bests, our runners are looking great.”

The junior high runners ran 1.5 miles, while the high schoolers doubled their pleasure by running three.

“The Okanogan/Omak golf course meet was a better experience than our prior 5,000-meter run in Moses Lake,” said Coach Travis Adams. “Our runners came in with some purpose. We pushed them hard the days before the meet, and it really showed in the races.”

“One person I’d like to highlight is Hannah Wapato,” Adams said. “Hannah’s hard work is starting to show at these meets. She was able to place sixth overall and isn’t too far from her goal time that she set on the first day of practice.

“All of our runners are improving quickly and I look forward to watching how fast they can get within the next month,” Adams continued. “They’re training harder and it’s going to start to show when they run these races.”

For the junior high, Chase Marchand placed first by a hair, knocking a minute and a half off of his time.

“He is running great, and Kristofer Clark for his first meet ran great,” Green said.

Adams also commended the efforts of Styles Picard and Colton Jackson. “They compete with each other day in and day out in training, and it has really pushed them to accomplish better times at the actual meets,” Adams said.

The Raiders ran at Walla Walla Point Park in Wenatchee on Saturday, where Wapato stood out again.

“I am proud of all our runners,” Adams said. “Especially our younger runners, our freshmen and sophomores. They have had to step up and run varsity due to the fact that we just don’t have many runners available.”

Adams said Picard, Jackson, Alonzo Adams, and Daxton Whiteman have all stepped into the varsity role without complaining.

“I’m proud of them for being so brave and running against older, more experienced runners,” Adams said. “I think they will be fun to watch in the future.”

Adams said Wapato is very consistent and “mentally tough, and that edge keeps her competing in every race.”

Wapato finished 26th overall with a time of 21 minutes, 19.1 seconds.

The Raiders run again tomorrow, Sept. 27, in Tonasket with a start time 4 p.m. Following that, the Raiders will run at East Side Park in Omak Oct. 3, also starting at 4 p.m.

Okanogan Invite

Omak Golf Course

Junior High Times

Chase Marchand 8:24

Kristofer Clark 10:04

Brandon Pino 10:14

Jimmy Downs 10:19

Jimmy Nomee 13:56

Trevan Barnaby-Lesser 15:25

High School Times

Hannah Wapato 21:48

Kyona Edmo 23:50

Soarin Marchand 18:19

Kyle Edmo 18:43

Styles Picard 19:20

Colton Jackson 19:24

Levi Shanklin-Bob 23:11

Daxton Whiteman 23:56

Alonzo Adams 24:17

Wenatchee Invite -

Walla Walla Pt. Park

High School Times

Kyle Edmo 18:47.8

Colton Jackson 19:59.90

Styles Picard 20:20.90

Daxton Whiteman 24:13.00

Levi Shanklin-Bob 24:40.30

Alonzo Adams 25:26.00

Hannah Wapato 21:19.10

Kyona Edmo 24:56.70