File photo

Arcata senior Nathan Whitney got his first career league win in H-DNL cross country at Arcata on Wednesday.

Whitney beat out junior teammate Reece Thompson by just three seconds to take the win, as the Tigers dominated and posted eight of the top nine fastest times on a week where several of the league’s top runners sat out, including McKinleyville senior Damian Dinan.

Whitney set a PR for a three-mile course and crossed the finish line in a time of 16 minutes 26 seconds.

Eureka’s Chase Jimenez placed third in a time of 16:50, followed by Arcata’s Evan Poston (16:51) and Kai Frimodig (16:52).

Poston was the fastest freshman on the day and one of three freshmen in the top 10.

Teammate and fellow freshman Eoin McGoldrick was sixth and McKinleyville’s Miles Day was 10th.

Arcata’s Levi Browne, Ocean Walker and Jordan Gaskell placed seventh through ninth.

Arcata comfortably took the team win in what was the last regular-season race of the fall, scoring 18 points, well ahead of Eureka (60), Hoopa (78) and Fortuna (90).

Dinan, who placed first in four of the previous five league races this season, sat out Wednesday after a big showing at the weekend Yoshanny Invitational in Ukiah.

The Mack senior placed first in a time of 16:22, which was 24 seconds faster than the field.

Whitney was second and led the Tigers to the team win, once again well ahead of the chasing pack.

Eureka freshman Ryder Bullman, who is enjoying a very good debut season at the high school level, was the this best H-DNL finisher in fourth, followed by McGoldrick in fifth.

The H-DNL Championships will take place at the Arcata Marsh a week from Saturday.

For more on this week’s girls race, see Victory at Arcata caps big week for impressive freshman …

File photo – Damian Dinan placed first at the weekend Yoshanny Invitational in Ukiah.