For a cross country meet called the Hole in the Wall Invite, it certainly drew some elite talent.

South Whidbey competed against some of the state’s top cross country runners Saturday at Lakewood High School. The Falcon girls team finished 13th overall. The boys team did not qualify for team points because it did not have enough varsity runners due to injury, illness and Falcon head coach Doug Fulton’s decision to put the underclassmen in a separate race for ninth and 10th grade students.

His most veteran racer in the varsity competition was addled by a foot injury. Senior Will Zink hurt his foot in a non-running incident.

“I woke up and my arch went flat,” Zink said. “It hurts right now just to put pressure on it. I ran Saturday thinking it wouldn’t be that bad and Sunday it came back and just wreaked havoc on me.”

Zink finished in 18 minutes and 24.68 seconds, one of his better 5K times.

“It’s a fast course, it’s not my favorite one,” Zink said. “I think I could have knocked at least 10 seconds off my time.”

Despite being only a second slower than his season-best time, it was his teammate and brother Cole’s performance that irked him.

“It just kills me because Cole’s catching up and he’s doing really good,” Zink said. “Just think about it, if he’s a freshman now, what is he going to be running as a senior?”

Cole Zink, freshman, had the second-best time for Falcon boys with 17:58.79. He finished in sixth place in the freshman/sophomore boys race. First-year Falcon senior Noah Moeller had the best time for South Whidbey at 17:57.47.

The Falcons’ top girls runner, Lilli Stelling, placed 36th in a field of more than 190. She competed against the state’s top two runners from Glacier Peak in Snohomish, who finished first and second place.

“It was very competitive on the girls’ side,” Fulton said.

Stelling ran the 5,000-meter course in 20 minutes and 19.87 seconds. Falcon head coach Doug Fulton said it was one of her best runs, even though it wasn’t her fastest time.

“That’s a solid run for her, but not her best,” Fulton said.

South Whidbey’s veteran girls led the way after Stelling. Senior co-captain Jessica Cary finished less than a second slower than her season’s best time at 21:28.86. The Falcons’ other top-100 finisher was junior Nora Felt, who finished in 21:37.87.

South Whidbey’s last regular season meet is the North County Invitational in Marysville at the Cedarcrest Golf Course on Thursday, Oct. 13.