Bainbridge’s boys and girls cross country teams both claimed Olympic League championships at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course in Sequim, while South Kitsap’s boys team finished as runners-up of the South Puget Sound League at Fort Steilacoom Park Oct. 24.

Just five seconds off his personal best, SK junior Isaac Benjamin with a time of 15 minutes and six seconds cruised to victory in the SPSL boys varsity race after finishing eighth last year. His fellow Wolves were not too far behind: senior Jefferson Smith taking third at 15:57 for his third sub-16 finish of the season and senior Blake Butherus finishing eighth in 16:26. Sophomore Benson Bouck and senior James Hardin rounded out the Wolves’ scoring with 13th and 29th place finishes.

For the girls, senior Emma Schmutz ran the fastest race of her high school career at 18:31 to take third, and senior Lauren Laws finished seventh at 19:05. The Wolves finished fourth place as a team behind Curtis, Olympia and Puyallup.

Later that afternoon, Bainbridge went to work. Sophomore Evelin Shutske and juniors Savai Esaray and Nova Sheppard took first (19:13), second (19:59) and third (20:03) for the girls, while sophomore Ryan Dodge, junior Ignacio Llorens and senior Marcus Stroman finished second (16:12), third (16:21) and fourth (16:28) for the boys.

Bremerton senior Dallin Anderson would claim individual victory in the boys race with a time of 15:55 followed by junior Joshua Lueders in seventh at 16:56. Olympic senior Samuel Bosnell finished in fifth at 16:29, and Kingston freshman Coen Van Vliet took sixth at 16:45 followed by sophomore Timothy Clark-Johnston in ninth at 17:16. North Kitsap freshman Luke Atchley took 18th at 17:48.

For the girls, Bremerton freshman Veda Stewart took ninth at 20:59. Kingston sophomore Emma Grice followed in 10th at 21:37, and Olympic sophomore Brynn Fulton finished 12th at 22:07. North Kitsap sophomore Kathryn Mixer finished 19th at 22:54.

Two days later, Central Kitsap’s boys team secured a team victory in the 3A Puget Sound League championships, also held at Fort Steilacoom Park. Sophomore standout Mana Voss and senior Michael Vlach finished first and second with times of 15:25 and 15:54. Junior David McClain took fifth at 16:09, senior Gavin Brown took eighth at 16:27 and sophomore Kyler Atendido rounded out the scoring in 14th place at 16:42.

The Cougar girls remained dominant but took second place behind a blazing-fast Gig Harbor team. Seniors Clare Herring and Taylor Palmer took third and fourth place at 18:35 and 18:51. Taylor’s sister Audra was fifth in 19:19. Senior Isabella Welk took 11th at 20:29, and senior Voss Luma took 13th with a time of 20:41.