Middle School Cross Country results are here!

The combined Oak Harbor Middle and North Whidbey Middle Cross Country team, running under the banner of North Whidbey, competed in their final regular season race of the year at the Wirth Farm in Oak Harbor over a 1.6 mile course. Overall, North Whidbey athletes performed well, and there were some exciting finishes. Links to photos are with each grade level's article.

7th grade girls

The 7th grade girls race was all North Whidbey, with local girls capturing 4 of the top 10 spots enroute to the team win.

Olivia Meyer of NWMS was the first to cross the finish line, in a time of 11:31, and she was followed 14 seconds later by fellow NWMS student Alex Laiblin in 3rd. The next two North Whidbey finishers were Oak Harbor Christian School students Hannah Kagey and Annie Leete, 7th & 8th respectively. Anchoring the NW team, but still finishing smack in the middle of the finishers was Jasmyn Maier of Oak Harbor Middle School.

The girls didn’t have much depth, but they did have speed, and beat 2nd place Langley MS by 12 points and 3rd place Anacortes by 40 points.

7th grade girls photos are HERE.


7th grade boys –

The 7th grade boys weren’t as strong as the 7th grade girls, but had numbers on their side, enough to get a second place finish. First to cross the line for NW was Carlton Johnson of NWMS in 6th overall, with Teddy Peterschmidt, also from NWMS, just 10 seconds behind. North Whidbey’s Tom Horton just missed nabbing 10th place, finishing just 20 seconds out of 10th with a time of 12:28. Other NW finishers were David Paradise, Nathan Wagner and Harrison Miller from OHMS, and Trevor Sanders and Cody Edwards of NWMS.

7th grade boys photos are HERE.

8th grade girls –

The 8th grade girls don’t have a very strong team, but make up for that strength in numbers and enthusiasm. Despite no NW runners finishing higher than 9th overall, the depth of the team allowed them to capture 2nd place.

First for NW was OHMS’s Christina Wicker with a 12:48 and 9th place overall, and she was followed by Taylor Nienhuis, Haruna Hamamoto, Ainsley McLoud, Carlie Kenny, all from NWMS, in 10th through 15th. Finishing up for the NW was homeschooled Abby Hickinbotham, Kelsey Rankin from OHMS, and Elizabeth Adkins from the Christian School.

8th grade girls photos

8th grade boys –

This was an exciting race. Entering the 2nd half of the run, Oak Harbor Middle School’s Wyatt Homola, the lead NW runner, was running in 4th, and with a hundred yards or so to go was in 2nd by about 20 yards. However, by digging in and pumping his legs to get up the final hill, he was able to slip in front of an Anacortes runner right at the finish line to capture first place. Wyatt was the only NW runner in the top 10, and even with some depth, the field was just too large for NW to score points, and wound up in 2nd place. Other runners representing OHMS in the 24-man field were Chris Hailer, Matt Cross, Zachary Hastings and Kelly Turner. NWMS had some numbers in the race as well – Jackson Knoll, David Kusnick, Guillermo Quinones, Trevor Taylor, Brice Benz and Stacy Jappert.

While perhaps some runners were not as fast as others, or perhaps didn’t finish as well as they wanted, they are all winners, as cross country is not an easy sport. It takes hard work, dedication, and commitment. Every kid who was at the meet was a kid who was outside, having fun, making friends, staying fit, and not sitting at home in front of an electronic screen. Congratulations to ALL of you for being winners!

8th grade boys race photos