Peter Aspholm, left, and Carter Dornfeld kept pace on the first loop of a 2.2-mile race at the Ellensburg Invitational.
In its first “official” weekend of scored competition, the Liberty Bell High School cross-country team showed its competitive potential against many much-larger schools at the Ellensburg Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 10).
The girls’ varsity team, with just five eligible runners, took third place behind Zillah and Ellensburg in the 2.2-mile race. Freshman Gretta Scholz led the Liberty Bell contingent in fifth place, followed by sophomore Icel Sukovaty (eighth), freshman Rivers Leeman (14th), sophomore Ava Mott (24th) and sophomore Sage Borgias (76th).
On the varsity boys’ side, the Mountain Lions took 11th place, also at 2.2 miles. Junior Eli Nielsen was the top Liberty Bell finisher in 15th place, followed by junior Cade Quigley (31st), sophomore Emerson Worrell (33rd), sophomore Peter Aspholm (85th), sophomore Lazo Gitchos (94th) and senior Carter Dornfeld (97th).
“There are six additional boys that will join us with enough practices this coming weekend, and a strong team effort will get even stronger in the weeks to come,” assistant coach Erik Brooks said.
“As a team and across the board we did really well to get out strong and to challenge ourselves with some non-league, big-school competition,” Brooks added.
At the Tonasket Jamboree on Sept. 6, the girls’ team took six of the eight top finishes. Scholz was first, sophomore Athena Milani third, Sukovaty fourth, and Mott and Leeman tied for seventh. Borgias finished 20th.
For the boys, Quigley was sixth, Aspholm 11th, Gitchos 12th and Worrell 18th
This week the team travels cross-state to Hayden Lake, Idaho, for the Coeur d’Alene Invitational.
