On Wednesday, Sept. 10, the Cedarcrest High School cross country squad competed at the conference preview meet at Lakewood High.

All eight conference schools were in attendance, and the meet was a good chance for athletes to size each other up.

Among the Red Wolves girls squad, who raced first and finished second overall to a good Lakewood squad, a new trio up front replaced graduates last fall. Runners Madi Shinn, Courtney Tobin and Ruby Farias all finished in the top 12.  Kiana Ward wasn’t too far behind as the team’s number four. Then, a whole pack of seven girls finished within forty seconds of each other.

Among the boys, Ian Fay, Cameron Hammontree and Isaac Harper all finished in the top 14. Number four runner, Vincent Dams, wasn’t too far behind that trio. The boys team finished third behind the perennially good Lakewood and Kings

Athletes of the meet, named by coach Bruce McDowell, were Vincent Dams, Gunnar Schultz, Paige Lucas and Lily Krueger.

“Overall, we have gotten off to a good start to the season.  The veterans are striving to improve upon last year and be consistent in races and workouts,” said McDowell. “The rookies are learning to push themselves as gain experience.  It will be fun to see all of athletes progress and get faster as the season progresses.”

Cedarcrest competes Saturday, Sept. 20, at Yakima. The Apple Ridge Challenge includes three different courses of varying difficulty through trails surrounding an apple orchard.