Cross Country teams shine in competition

Cascade High School's cross country team is enjoying a successful, though shortened, season. Practice started on Feb. 22, and the last meet of the season, the Regional Championship between all North Central Washington Region (NCR) Schools regardless of size, is on April 1.

Cascade's girls cross country team took first place at the two previous meets, at Ephrata and Quincy. Last Saturday, a 5k at Walla Walla Point Park, Wenatchee came in first with a score of 29 to Cascade's 45; Cashmere was 3rd with a score of 49 (the places of the top 5 runners are added together, low score wins). Junior Lauren Muscutt has been racing exceptionally well in her first season, and finished first at Ephrata and Quincy, and second at Walla Walla with a time of 20:13 in a hard-fought battle with Wenatchee's McKenna White. Senior Zoe McDevitt has been right behind, finishing second in the previous meets and 4th at Walla Walla. Not far behind her was freshman Paige Nunnaly, followed by senior Celeste Villalobos and sophomore Tillie Leroy.

Cascade's boys cross country team, led by senior standout Landon Davies, has won first place at the last three meets. Davies has placed either first or second at every meet so far. Not far behind is junior Owen Bard, followed by sophomore Aiden Tuttle, freshman Jasper Bard, senior Jerome Jerome, and sophomore Anthony Villalobos. At Walla Walla, Davies placed second in a time of 17:08. Owen Bard and Tuttle were not far behind, followed by Villalobos and Jerome. Cascade took first place with a score of 28; Cashmere was second with a score of 49, Wenatchee third with 57, and Liberty Bell fourth with 94.

The team continues to work hard, running lots of miles during practice with masks on; they are required for practices but can be taken off during races.  Next up is the NCR 2A/1A Championship on March 25 and then the NCR Regional Championship on April 1. Cascade also plans to compete in a Virtual State Championship on April 3, where the team will run a 5k on the track (12.5 laps!), competing statewide with other schools as a replacement for the normal state championship held at a golf course in Pasco.