The Falcon girls cross country team continues to show why it’s one of the best in the state. South Whidbey won the 1B, 1A and 2A girls team title at the Twilight Cross Country Invitational meet in Marysville.

That is largely thanks to a career day by senior Anna Hood, who improved her best 5,000-meter time by 41 seconds and finished in 22:07 at Cedarcrest Golf Course. Hood crossed the finish line for 45th place in the 1B-2A division.

Some of the South Whidbey’s best times over the years have been at Cedarcrest Golf Course, which features a downhill final stretch.

The Falcon girls were led by senior runners Lillianna Stelling and Nora Felt. Stelling placed fourth and posted her best time of 19:13, a personal record improvement of 43 seconds. Felt finished 19th in 20:33, her personal best time by almost one minute. Mallorie Mitchem, a freshman, finished close behind Felt for 20th place in 20:35.

Bonnie Klamm, a Falcon senior, finished in 22nd place in 20:54. She improved her 5K time by 10 seconds from her seventh-place finish at the South Whidbey Invitational meet Sept. 15. Emma Lungren was the fifth Falcon to cross the finish line and did so in 21:46 for 38th place and her personal record.

Anna Justus, a Falcon freshman, was the final varsity runner and finished in 23:53.

South Whidbey’s boys team was highlighted by a string of sub-20 races. Sophomore Cole Zink sprinted away from his previous best 5K time to a sixth-place finish and set his new record at 16:45. Gavin Imes, a junior, also set a personal record of 18:03.

First-year varsity runner Chris Anderson, a freshman, was the third Falcon finisher (18:12). Sophomores Anders Bergquist (18:54) and Truman Hood (19:08) set personal best times. Sophomore Andy Zisette (19:28) rounded out South Whidbey’s varsity runners.

The Falcons were without senior runner and team captain Jhamil Bader-Jarvis. South Whidbey has its final Cascade Conference meet Thursday, Oct. 4 at the Carnation Golf Course in Duvall.