They came. They saw. They ran.

More that 1,560 cross country runners from 41 high schools — from big schools such as Mariner to smaller ones like King’s and Cedar Park Christian — joined the Falcon boys and girls teams for the South Whidbey Invite on Saturday.

They came from Blaine and Lynden, Spokane and Moses Lake, Gig Harbor and Oak Harbor and all points in between for the chance to test their running skills against the best.

So many kids showed up on a wet, blustery morning that the races were divided into eight varsity and junior varsity 3.1-mile runs around the high school track, into the woods and back again.

The South Whidbey girls varsity runners placed sixth overall, with an average time of 22 minutes, 28.48 seconds.

The team from Gig Harbor was first overall for the girls with a time of 19:36.98 and Gig Harbor also won the Carl D. Westling Award for the combined boys and girls team score.

Pacing the Falcon girls was Chantal White with a time of 21:20.51, followed by Lillianna Stelling (21:52.73), Taya Jae (22:34.94), Jessica Cary (23:02.92) and Nora Felt (23:31.29).

“It went pretty well out there, despite all the rain,” White said after her race. “I go at a comfortable pace for the first mile, struggle up the big hill, then go as fast as I can. My legs felt strong this year.”

Cary said she tries to pick a teammate to run with as a motivator.

“But I ended up with a side ache and that slowed me down a bit,” she said.

For Jae, it’s all about attitude.

“The secret is to stay positive and keep going fast,” she said.

Felt ran into side-ache problems as well.

“My goal was simple: To keep one foot in front of the other till the finish line,” she said.

Ben Saari led the boys with 18:06.02, followed by Blake Koszarek (18:13.73) and Kevin Rookstool (18:57.70).

“We started out a little faster than we wanted,” Saari said. “It works when you can establish a good pace, then maintain that.”

Koszarek said the rain didn’t matter.

“It’s good running weather and the Westling trails are always in good shape,” he said. “I didn’t run a personal best this year, but I did OK for this early in the season.

I have work to do, though.”

In boys varsity, the team from Henry Jackson placed first in 16:06.38.

In the JV races, Marina Kovic led the girls with 23:25, followed by Audrey Digirolamo (23:41.96), McKenzie Walker (23:46.66), Anna Hood (25:53.25), Kelsey Hardaway (27:29.40) and AJ Janda (30:31).

This was freshman Hood’s first major race as a Falcon.

“This is a big deal for the individual runner, lots of challenges,” Hood noted. “I’ve learned a lot about form and using energy wisely this year and it’s beginning to pay off.”

Kovic said the competition forced her to work harder.

“This is one of the best races for pushing myself,” she said.

For the JV boys, Kennedy McQuinn led with 21:06.48, then Michael Cavender (21:44.41), Will Zink (21:47.96), Will Mellish (22:36.61) and Spencer Koszarek (24:07.31).

Waterman Field was a swirl of color, motion, energy and excitement as groups of athletes jogged across the grass before their races, while parents and coaches hustled from one viewing spot to another to offer encouragement.

A multihued mini-tent city sprang up outside the track so runners could sprawl, grab a healthy snack, listen to Coldplay on iPods or simply sleep.

The races started late due to a slight problem along the course — a watermelon-sized bee hive was found near the baseball diamond’s scoreboard. A beekeeper’s outfit was found and Craig Stelling volunteered to remove it.

Just another fun day for the man who runs this particular show, Falcon coach Doug Fulton.

“This is huge for us, the biggest athletic event of the year by far,” he said.

Announcer and SWHS principal Rob Prosch said the invite is one of the few athletic scenarios that brings school closer.

“Coach Fulton get lots of kudos for putting this together. The boys JV race alone had 200 runners,” he said. “It really is a phenomenal happening.”

On Sept. 22, the team travels to Cedarcrest, then welcomes Sultan on Oct. 8.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.