By Mike Maltais
The Liberty Bell High School varsity boys’ cross-country team made the best use of the least numbers at the 1B/2B District 5-6 Championships in Wenatchee last Saturday (Nov. 1) to place four runners among the top seven finishers and win the regional title for the third consecutive year
The win at Walla Walla Point Park will send the fifth-ranked Mountain Lions to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State Championships in Pasco on Saturday (Nov. 8) for their fifth straight year.
Junior Ben Klemmeck led the Mountain Lions with his first individual 5,000-meter regional title in a time of 17 minutes, 14 seconds, his third fastest 5K of the season. Klemmeck clocked a 17:06 5K at the Kettle Falls Can-Am on Oct. 4, and 17:13.14 in the District 6 CWB league championships held at Liberty Bell on Oct. 25.
Team captain Willy Duguay placed fourth for the Mountain Lions, followed by Eli Neilsen, fifth, and Josiah Klemmeck, seventh.
The Mountain Lions needed a minimum of five runners to qualify as a scoring team but injuries to Carter Dornfeld and Garett Palm plus ineligibility elsewhere whittled the team down to four runners.
Assistant coach Erik Brooks called Dornfeld “the man of the hour” for stepping up — sore foot and all — to be the requisite fifth man. Though his condition all but assured that Dornfeld would cross the finish line last, he crossed nonetheless and the other four did the rest.
Koharu Yonebayashi placed ninth among girls and Mackenzie Woodworth 16th.
