Mount Si’s girls’ cross country team qualified for the SeaKing District meet last Thursday, Oct. 23, by finishing strong in the Kingco conference meet at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah.

Alex Rudd led the way with a ninth place time of 20:11, 1:22 behind winner Lindsay Benster of Mercer Island. Four Wildcats finished in the top 21 overall, including Megan Past (21:04, 17th), Kendall Maddux (21:10, 18th) and Katie Rylands (21:32, 21st). Jesserah Helm, Katricia Stewart and Dannah Parsons also ran solid times to help the effort for the Wildcats girls.

In the junior varsity meet, Wendy Hecker (23:04) and Sally Miller (23:08) led the way for Mount Si.

On the boys’ side, top runners Max McDevitt and Zac Pearlstein both made districts. McDevitt (17:07) finished 13th, while Pearlstein (17:21) finished 15th.

“It was a good race,” Pearlstein said. “It was a really muddy track, but I just pushed it. It might have been my last race of the season so I gave it my all.” Michael Blackmon (17:47, 27th) also had a solid race for the Wildcats. In the junior varsity meet, Landon Storrud (20:24, 52nd) was the top Mount Si boy in the race.

The district meet is Thursday, Oct. 30 at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle, a two-lap course that covers three miles. A review of the course map by the Valley Record shows that it could be a tough, yet favorable one, especially late. The first lap is flat, and loops around the baseball and softball fields at the park, while the second lap will take runners around on a much longer, hillier course, so conditioning is likely to be key. Fans can expect the best.

“Look to see some Mount Si runners pretty far up there on the scoreboard,” Pearlstein said.

The meet starts at 2:30 p.m. Parking will be available. The start and finish areas will be around the softball complex at the park, right along Green Lake Way North.