Middle schoolers lead way at Westling Invitational / Cross country

The population of South Whidbey swelled Saturday, Sept. 15, when the Falcons hosted the 40th annual Carl Westling Invitational Cross Country Meet.

The event featured 1,193 athletes from 38 high schools and seven middle schools spread over nine divisions.

Langley finished first in the team standings in both the boys and girls middle school races.

The South Whidbey High School girls placed eighth out of 14 teams in the small school division (2A and smaller), while the boys were ninth out of 21.

King’s took the girls title with 70 points; the Falcons tallied 219.

Meridian was the boys winner with 126 points; South Whidbey earned 220.

The Langley girls team dominated the middle school competition, placing five in the top 10 while scoring 17 points. Lakewood was a distant second with 62.

The Langley boys edged Northshore Christian Academy 60-63 for the crown.

Langley’s Madeline Racicot was the middle school girls champion, covering the 1.7-mile course in 12:12.15, 31 seconds better than the runner up.

Langley’s Emmett Layman took second in the middle school boys race in 11:11.93, 32 seconds behind the winner.

In the high school competition, Kaia Swegler Richmond was fifth in the 5,000-meter girls race in 19:59.39, while Michael Cepowski took 11th in the boys race in 17:25.86.

The Falcons’ next meet is the Bellevue Invitational Saturday, Sept. 22, at Lake Sammamish State Park.

Local Westling results

Middle school girls (36 runners): 1, Madeline Racicot, 12:12.15; 3, Naomi Atwood, 12:54.48; 5, Parker Forsyth, 13:06.58; 6, Abigail Martin, 13:08.58; 10, Kate Cobb, 13:23; 15, Savannah Simmons, 13:42.31; 17, Abigail Ireland, 13:43.64; 19, Adeline McCleary, 14:03.29; 27, Amber Fickel, 15:23.41; 32, Sophia Patrin, 16:15.09; 36, Eva Wirth, 18:51.38.

Middle school boys (65): 2, Emmett Layman, 11:11.73; 3, Nicholas Muller, 11:11.96; 12, Carter Castle, 12:02.61; 16, Sterling Gardiner, 12:24.61; 31, Evan Welever, 13:15.42; 33, Ian O’Brien, 13:27.23; 34, Noah Brady, 13:28.23; 37, Austin Buck, 13:42.56; 40, Trevor Hardaway, 14:23.47; 43, Alexander Kuschnereit, 14:36.97; 48, Elias Sullivan, 14:43.27; 50, Matthew Midkiff, 14:58.11; 65, Konrad Nyberg, 20:11.

Varsity girls (95): 5, Kaia Swegler Richmond, 19:59.39; 51, Flannery Friedman, 24:01.41; 54, Laila Gmerek, 24:16.83; 55, Natalie Rodriguez, 24:18.58; 78, Grace Complita, 25:31.53.

Varsity boys (138): 11, Michael Cepowski, 17:25.86; 41, Thomas Simms, 18:21.89; 46, Cooper Ullmann, 18:25.05; 54, Reilly McVay, 18:36.63; 73, Aidan O’Brien, 19:09.73; 76, Aidan Donnelly, 19:18.95; 89, Sam Baesler, 19:32.34.

JV boys, under 22 minutes (209): 33, Eli Waldron, 18:58.03; 65, Tyler King, 19:39.49; 93, Ben Lind, 20:06.16; 101, Trent Hogarth, 20:15.88; 110, Drew Larson, 20:21.89; 114, Steven Osborn, 20:23.27; 122, Max Dodd, 20:26.91; 171, Luc Gandarias, 21:10.96; 180, Preston Leon, 21:27.82.

JV boys, over 22 minutes (234): 63, Christopher Schuster, 22:22.61; 140, Liam Bjork, 24:09.71.