Middle School Cross Country

On Thursday, October 28th, the combined OHMS and NWMS "Wildcat United" cross country team participated in the league championships in Sedro Woolley on the grounds of the abandoned Northern State Hospital.

The 7th grade girls dominated the race, capturing the first two places and placing 4 of the top 10. Susan Kaltenbach was first overall in a time of 10:04 over the 1.5 mile course. Muriel Empinado was 2nd in 10:19. Karlie Hall was 8th and Caitlin Dodge was 9th. Other Oak Harbor finishers were Olivia Trailkill, Julianne Sen, Destiny Garcia, Jayme Graves, Chastity Mackey and Kristen FiskBryant. If any names are incorrect, please accept apologies and send an email so they can be corrected.

The 7th grade boys were also successful with Logan Clark finishing 2nd overall in 9:24. Logan's teammate, Steven Dixon, was not able to run today's race, but the two had been close all year. The race winner was a Cascade MS runner who clocked 9:00. Finishing in 10th place was Jacob Mutchler. Other finishers were Michael Thornton, Orien Altman, Tristan Gaines, Garrett haugen, Matt Molitor, Garrett Stahl, Michael Catanzaro, Casey Quijano, Isaac Deleon, Fred Miller and Justin Cress.

In the 8th grade girls race, Hayley Lundstrom was the top Wildcat finisher, running in 9:53, good enough for 3rd place. The winning time was 9:45. Marisa Sligh was not far behind, finishing 4th in 10:04 and Jonalynn Horn was 5th, just 3 seconds behind Marisa. Mollie Briddell, Sydney Erickson and Ashley Patrick also finished the race.

The 8th grade race there was only one participant from Oak Harbor in the race. Joel Erickson finished in 11th place overall in 9:48.

7th grade girls photos are HERE

7th grade boys photos are HERE

8th grade girls photos are HERE

8th grade boys photos are HERE.

Middle School Cross Country

In Burlington at the Skagit River Park, the Wildcat United (combined North Whidbey and Oak Harbor) cross country team competed against Burlington and Cascade Middle Schools on Thursday.

In the 7th grade girls race, Oak Harbor's Susan Kaltenvach won with a time of 9:41. Second place was a B-E runner in 10:02, then Whidbey's Brittany Jenkins and Mariel Empinado in 10:14 and 10:21 respectively. Also in the 7th grade race for the Whidbey/Oak Harbor team were Caitlyn Dodge (6th), Karlie Hall (7th), Oliva Thrailkill (8th), Destiny Garcia, Julianne Sem and Chastity Mackey. The slowest OH time in the race was 16:15 while last place checked in at 17:54.

7th grade girls photos are posted HERE.

Out of 34 runners in the 7th grade boys race, 16 were from Oak Harbor/North Whidbey. It was a close finish, but Steven Dixon finished in 2nd place by just 2 seconds, in 8:50. Right behind him was Logan Clark in 9:05. Jon Dix (10:07), Jacob Mutchler (10:14) and Tristan Gained (10:39) were also in the top 10.

Click HERE to access the 7th grade boys pictures.

Not quite half of the 8th grade girls race consisted of OH/NW runners, with Hayley Lundstrom crossing in 3rd place overall with a time of 9:52. Jonalynn Horn wasn't far behind in 4th (10:03) and Marisa Sligh was just 10 seconds behind her in 5th place overall. Also in the race were Mariah Azot, Mollie Briddell and Sydney Ericksen.

The 8th grade girls photos are HERE.

Finallly, in the 8th grade race there were only two local runners, Joel Erickson and Hunter Adams. Joel Erickson finished in 2nd overall with a 9:02, but was neck-and-neck with the winner through most of the race. Hunter finished with a time of 12:11.

11 photos of the two runners are posted HERE.

This coming Thursday, the NW/OH cross country team travels to Anacortes, with the races starting and finishing on the lower fields behind the high school.

Middle School Cross Country Championships 10-22

The middle school Northwest League held their cross country championship races Thursday afternoon at the old Northern State Hospital outside Sedro-Woolley. Although it was dry, the course was challenging.

The day started off with the 7th grade girls race. The combined Oak Harbor/North Whidbey team, known as Wildcat United, had its biggest presence in this race - 8 runners. The top 7th grade girl was Jonalynn Horn, who finished in 8th place with a time of 10:29. She was followed by Lauryn Plush in 11th at 10:53, then Hayley Lundstrom in 14th and Aubrey Lock in 19th. Alyssa Eden came in 10th, Katie Ducken 26th, Sydney Erickson 34th and Elise Still 38th.

The 7th grade boys race was the opposite of the girls race for Oak Harbor - there was only a single boy running, Hunter Adams. He ran the course in 10:53, good enough for a 20th place finish.

In the 8th grade girls race, Wildcat United showed their power. Olivia Meyer spent half the race in a dead heat with a Burlington girl, but about halfway through, Olivia took change and won the race with room to spare. Her winning time was 9:47. Not far behind her, Alex Laiblin finished in 3rd place with a time of 10:11. Also finishing in the 8th grade girls race were Kayleigh Harper 23rd, Jasmyn Maier 26th, Kennedy Trisler 27th and Yzabella Sampson 28th.

Finally, in the 8th grade boys race, Nathaniel Stanford ran a time of 9:42 for a 6th place finish, and Colton Johnson clocked a 10:01 for 10th place. Brendan Bristow finished 26th, Nathan Wagner 28th and Harrison Miller rounded out the OH/NW field in 35th.

It was a good day for running and the runners can all be proud of their efforts.


144 images covering all 4 races are posted HERE.

Middle School Cross Country results

Are now available.

7th grade girls:

Jonalynn Horn was the winner of the 7th grade girls race, followed just two seconds later by Lauryn Plush. Horn finished the 1.2 mile course in 8?28 while Plush's time was 8:30. Also in the race was Mollie Briddle with a time of 10:49.

There were no 7th grade boys running in Anacortes for Wildcat United.

The 8th grade girls continued the example set by the 7th grade girls, when Olivia Meyer finished 1st in a time of 7:49. Alex Laiblin was third in 8:04. Jasmyn Maier was also in the race with a time of 10:20.

In the 8th grade boys race, Nathan Stanford earned 3rd place by running the course in 8:03, with Carlton Johnson not far behind in 6th place out of 24 runners. Also running, in finish order, were David Paradise, Brendan Bristow, Troy McCool, Trevor Sanders, Nathan Wagner and Harrison Miller.

Again, photos from the meet are posted HERE.

Middle School Cross Country, 9-24 @ Anacortes

The Wildcat United middle school cross country team was in action for their first meet of the season and did well. Full results weren't available as of Monday, but the photos have been posted.


You can find 88 photos HERE.