MARYSVILLE — Arling-ton’s team of cross country runners has been out-performing even themselves this season and came away successful in the Wesco 3A/4A Cross Country Championships at Cedar-crest in Marysville on Oct. 18, with both the boys and girls varsity teams advancing to the 4A Bi-District Meet at Lakewood on Saturday, Oct. 27.

The varsity girls team of Cassidy Rude, Emma Janousek, Gracie Castandeda, CJ Taylor, Rosalie Boyle, Karissa Swain and Rachael Fleming placed fifth, while the varsity boys team of Jameson Wren, Austin Henderson, Coleman Cummings, Ben Comerford, Ivan Baez-Nolasco, Michael Barene and Peiter Andrew  placed seventh overall at the meet.

“I am really pleased to say that both our boys and girls teams advanced to districts,” said head coach Mike Shierk. “Our number one and number two runners Emma Janousek and Cassidy Rude actually went the wrong way on the course for about 100 meters and had to turn around and start back where they went off, which added about 30 seconds to each of their times. Without getting lost they would have been in fifth or sixth place.”

The course was new to the girls, who are both first-year runners who had never competed at Cedarcrest before.

“It happens all the time, even at the elite level,” said Shierk. “Regardless, they had great races. Gracie Castandeda, another freshman, did a great job as well. She improved on her personal record by 20 seconds. She was out sick on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and came back and raced great. It’s really freshman power. We have been so blessed with the freshman that came in this year.”

Rude finished in 12th place with a final time of 20:02.6, and Janousek finished in 13th place with a final time of 20:03.7. Castandeda took 17th place  with a time of 20:18.7. Taylor took 38th place with a final time of 21:12.2, while Boyle and Swain took 44th and 45th with times of 21:24.4 and 21:25.3 respectively. Flemming came in 52nd place with a final time of 21:47.1.

The varsity boys team finished in seventh place and also advances to districts.

“Jameson Wren finished with a really impressive time, but I think he was disappointed because he was shooting for breaking 16,” said Shierk. “He has been nursing a hip injury, which may have affected him. But everyone should be looking at him coming out next week and really turning it on.”

Wren finished in 17th place with a final time of 16:29.4 and Henderson took 23rd place with a final time of 16:47.6. Cummings and Comerford took 48th and 50th places with times of 17:35.5 and 17:42.8 respectively. Baez-Nolasco came in 59th place with a final time of 18:05.5, while Barene and Andrew took 63rd and 64th places with times of 18:10.6 and 18:11 respectively.

Other varsity girls performances include freshman Ashlynn Low who took 54th place with a final time of 21:57, sophomore Shanelle Shirey who took 57th place with a time of 22:14.3, and freshman Marie Gaudin who took 62nd place with a time of 22:30.9. Junior Katelyn Kazen took 67th place with a time of 22:32.1, while Katelyn James finished in 77th place with a time of 23:29.3, Shyne McKay finished in 78th place with a time of 23:30.5, Miranda Carr finished in 79th place with 23:31.5, and Cassidy Henderson finished in 80th place with a time of 23:42.3.

Varsity boys perform-ances also include Nicholas Taylor who finished 67th with a time of 18:22.7, Zachary Cushman who finished 71st with a time of 18:38, Teagan Roehl who finished 78th with a time of 18:58, Jacob Fankhauser who finished 82nd with a time of 19:00.1, Bailey Laren-Gray who finished 84th with a time of 19:05, Matthew Taylor who finished 85th with a time of 19:06.6, Dillon Adahl who finished 86th with a time of 19:09.5 and Taylor Flemming who finished with a time of 19:53.7.

JV girls runners also found success in the 5,000 meter race with freshman Jalyn Rutledge finishing in 23.18, Roslyn Phillips in 23:24, Haley Duran in 23:33, Taya Fure in 24:22, Hannah Chung in 24:33, Mackie Pullig in 24:34, Josie Archey in 24:35, Erin Delaney in 25:31, Taylor Olson in 25:54 and Elizabeth Kern in 28:11.

JV boys results included Nathan Beamer in 18:01, Cody Duran in 18:41, Bryce Thomas in 19:31, E.J. Adcock in 19:58, Ryan Konecny in 20:02, David Balyko in 20:23, Zach Larson in 20:50, Jose Garcia in 21:12, Ethan Rowe in 21:26, Will Roundy in 21:45, William Schamp in 22:11, Paul Kern in 22:18, Tyler Sullivan in 22:19, Lucas Owen in 23:44, Mark Mason in 24:10, Sean Rowe 24:53 and Quinn James in 25:25.

“We are trying to get to state, so we are still training really hard,” said Shierk. “The boys ran about 53 miles last week. This meet was interesting because the top 15 runners were placed in varsity and the rest competed at JV. Normally, it’s only the top seven, so it was a battle. They were really going for it, they want to go to the post season. It was really fun to watch.”

The success of the relatively young team has been inspiring for Shierk.

“We are so excited about these younger kids. They have been awesome,” he said. “We have great team captains and they are really helping the bring up the other kids. We see a lot of potential in these athletes that we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Arlington Cross Country heads now to the 4A Bi-District meet at Lakewood High School on Oct. 27. If they place in the top five teams, or top 25 individuals, then they can advance to the State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 3 in Pasco.