Three Course Challenge returns to Camp Rilea
· Yahoo Sports
Three Courses and more than 50 cross-country teams at Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center. This could only mean one thing: The Three Course Challenge returned to Seaside on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Featuring teams from Oregon, Washington, California and Canada, the 36th Annual Three Course Challenge was a day of fun for runners and spectators. Hosted by Seaside High School, it is one of the only cross-country meets hosted in Clatsop County.
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The meet features both middle school and high school students and consists of three courses ranging from easy to moderate to difficult. The easy course is 4,300 meters of alternating undulations, while the moderate and difficult courses are 5,000 meters. For many of the athletes the highlight is something called a “mud pit.” The pit is deep in the forest of the camp and athletes take on the mud feet first. This usually leads to runners being drenched with mud as they cross the finish line.
Athletes were spread out throughout the courses. Many took the easy or moderate routes — a few took on the challenge of the difficult course.
Easy course
Locally, Astoria athletes Cameron Hano, Elijah Hofseth and Diego Lastiri Gonzalez ran the easy course. Hano was the highest placing runner with a time of 20:42 and 54th place finish. The highest placed local boy finisher for the easy course was Warrenton freshman Jacob Stevens. Stevens crossed the line in 46th place and a time of 20:10.1. Tristan Devos and Walter McCormick also ran the easy course for Warrenton.
The overall winner for the boys easy course was Casey Westerfield of Stanwood High School in Washington. His time of 16:12.6 kept him ahead of the five California runners behind him. Jackson Hughes and Logan Jones from Traduce Hills were second and third. Redondo Union trio Ignacio Perez Oliveras, Andrew Elder and William Hipple finished fourth, fifth and sixth.
On the girls side of local runners, Seaside runner Lexie Dickau was the highest placing local finisher. She ran the course in 23:50.4, to finish 23rd overall. Astoria senior Addison Earl was 35th in a time of 25:21. Other participants for the girls easy course were Astoria’s Gabby Rodriguez (62nd), Seaside runner Grace Walker (84th) and Astoria athletes Natalie Pringle (100) and Paige Kindred (120).
The overall winner was Marina Hashmi of Redondo Union, in a time of 20:54.3. Matilda Wood, of Oak Harbor High School in Washington, finished second in a time of 21:10.5 and Redondo Union runner Alison Haueter was third in a time of 21:28.6.
Moderate course
Though the difficult course is considered a highlight, on Saturday, the moderate course was where most local athletes competed.
Locally, 25 boys from Knappa, Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Jewell and Ilwaco took part in the moderate course.
Astoria sophomore Turner Boslar was the highest placed finisher in 30th. Boslar ran a time of 19:20.8 over 5000 meters. Behind him was most of the Knappa boys team. The Loggers looked to be using Saturday as a training session, since they ran in packs of four. The first pack was led by Henry Peitsch in 35th place. Peitsch crossed the line in a time of 19:42.2. He was followed by Paul Thompson, Rowdy Justus and Logan Affolter in 36th, 37th and 38th place. Thompson and Justus crossed the line with exactly the same time as Peitsch, while Affolter finished in a time of 19:43.1.
Recker Harvey of Astoria, came home 48th in a time of 20:01.7. Austin Peck was the first Warrenton runner on the moderate course with a 113th place finish. Kaden Bingham of Seaside crossed the finish line in 125th place.
The overall winner was Sebastian Palafox of Trabuco Hills in a time of 17:14.0. He was followed home by his teammate Ron Banchik in a time of 17:23.1. Cruz Garcia of Redondo Union, was third in a time of 17:38.6
For the local girls side, Knappa freshman Bristol Weichal was the first girl to finish the moderate course. Weichal placed 30th in a time of 25:20.8. Behind her was most of Astoria girls cross country team with an Ilwaco runner mixed in. Jocelyn Heilman finished 31st, Mavis Allen was 33rd and Alexandria Rodriguez of Ilwaco finished 37th. After that Teslyn Wintersteen (46th), Kysa Whitsett (48th) and Leah Junes (63) capped off a good day for Astoria girls. Kimberly Martinez-Luna was the first Seaside runner with a 123rd place finish.
The overall girls winner was Quinn Leetch of Redondo Union. Leetch crossed the line in a time of 20:26.1 and she was followed home by her teammate Micelli Petitfils, who ran the course in a time of 20:53.3. Aliana Coburn of Stanwood, was third in a time of 21:07.5.
Difficult course
The boys difficult course for local runners was a duel between two of the fastest runners for Seaside and Astoria. Senior Kyle Weichal was Seaside’s fastest runner at the Three Course Challenge, and he matched up with Astoria freshman Grady Tillotson who was the second fastest local runner. The pair ran together virtually the entire race with Weichal getting the best of Tillotson by a couple of seconds. Weichal finished 53rd in a time of 20:47 and Tillotson finished 57th with a time of 20:50.8. James Hallock was the top finisher for Warrenton with a 101st place finish.
The boys overall race ended up being a showdown of California schools Redondo Union and Trabuco Hills. Mario Montoya of Redondo Union took home first place with a time of 16:44.6, Dresden Taylor of Trabuco Hills finished second in a time of 16:59.6, Matteo Sanchez of Redondo Union was third in a time of 17:07.6 and Lucan Clemons of Trabuco Hills finished fourth with a time of 17:12.0.
On the girls side, Elsa Linquist from Ilwaco carried the torch for the North Coast as she finished 15th overall with a time of 23:44.2. Astoria girls number one runner Ila Canessa finished 48th in a time of 25:56.2.
The girls race was dominated by Corvallis’s Crescent Valley sophomore Alexa Montgomery. Her time of 19:50 was 40 seconds faster than her next closest competitor and she finished with the 32nd fastest overall time for the difficult course.