The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG-The WP Boys cross country team fell just short of earning a rib­bon, taking 11th place at Sat­urday's meet in Clarkston. The Seaport Invite, hosted by Clarkston High School, began with a mile run on the grass around Seaport Park, followed by a gradual decline down a packed dirt trail. Runners then followed an asphalt trail along the Snake River and wrapped up with a big hill at the finish.

Freshman Emily Adams, overcame congestion from a cold and a fall during the race to place ninth out of 56 girls running the three mile course. Emily's time of 21:01.50 earned her second place among District 9 run­ners, just behind Lucy Egg­leston of Asotin. Adams be­gan to close distance down the hill and continued to gain ground on the flat along the river, but stumbled and fell at the start of the final hill. She recovered and continued to gain ground up the hill, pushing hard toward the fin­ish. "Emily ran a tough race, battling a cold and a fall but ending with a phenomenal fight at the end," said assis­tant coach Ann Adams.

Senior E.J. Meserve led the boys' team, placing 20th out of 82 runners, with a time of 18:08.75. E.J. picked a good pace from the start, gained ground on the down­hill stretch, ran smart up the final hill and fought hard to the finish, placing fifth among the 12 District 9 runners. "E.J. pushed hard and had an awesome finish, leaving it all on the course," said Adams.

Freshmen Kyle Grad­whol, Skylar Wood and Jar­ed Farely finished close to­gether taking, 63rd, 65th and 66th places, respectively. Junior Tyler Shafer followed with a placement of 76th. "Kyle started out tentatively but found his spot and ran a smart race. He maintained well and finished hard. He has a natural talent and is really starting to develop as a runner." Said Adams.

"Sklar is really coming along well. He ran a smart race and finished strong. Jared started out confidently and maintained well. He finished hard and kept a tight group with teammates just as they'd been instructed by Coach Lanning. Tyler kept up a steady pace throughout the race," said Adams.

Middle School runner Tom House placed 39th out of 80 runners on the 1.5 mile middle school course, with a time of 10:26.74. House started strong, found his pace, pushed up the hill and finished hard.

"I was very proud of how all the kids competed. WP was well represented," said Adams.