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For the second straight week, a pair of Eureka runners led the way as the H-DNL cross country teams traveled to Fortuna on Wednesday.

Sophomore Ryder Bullman got his first league win in the boys race, while fellow sophomore Claire Gast continued to set a blistering pace for the girls on her way to victory.

Bullman, who has been one of the league’s most consistent runners since he first began competing at the high school level last year, beat Arcata’s Evan Poston by 18 seconds to take the win.

The standout sophomore crossed the finish line in a time of 18 minutes, 2.38 seconds.

Poston, who is also a sophomore, was next best in a time of 18:20.44, with last week’s winner Everett Docherty of Eureka in third in a time of 18:29.46.

Impressive Fortuna freshman Juan Ornelas, who has won two of the five H-DNL races this fall, placed fourth in a time of 18:33.83, followed by Arcata’s Ocean Walker in fifth with a time of 18:37.04.

The Arcata boys had six runners place in the top 10 and took the team win with 30 points followed by Eureka (49), Fortuna (71), Del Norte (97) and Hoopa (135).

Arcata’s Levi Browne placed sixth on the day, followed by Del Norte’s Dylan Rodriguez and Arcata’s Caden Demers, Eoin McGoldrick and Parker Pierson.

Jason Weldon led McKinleyville in 20th, while Brenden Knight led Hoopa in 31st.

Gast, meanwhile, continued to lead the way for the H-DNL girls and won for the fourth time in her four league races this fall.

And once again she won by a sizable margin, beating the field by by close to two minutes.

The impressive sophomore won in a time of 23:25.15, with Fortuna’s Brida Lester next fastest and crossing the finish line in a time of 25:10.65.

File photo – Claire Gast

And once again, it was the league’s younger runners who impressed the most.

The top 13 runners on the day included five sophomores, four freshmen, three juniors and just one senior.

Fortuna’s Alexa McCall placed third, less than four seconds behind teammate Lester in a time of 25:14.07.

Eureka’s Summer Morales was fourth fastest with a time of 25:49.07, with McKinleyville’s Kiara Weldon in fifth in a time of 26:42.08.

Fortuna took the team win with 34 points — thanks in large part to the impressive performances of Lester and McCall —  followed by Eureka (35) and Arcata (62).

Arcata’s Cali Lee and Sylvie Hunter placed sixth and seventh, respectively, with Eureka’s Rosie Davis, Fortuna’s Claire Lewis and Eureka’s Rathlin Hemmingson rounding out the top 10.

Davis was the highest placed senior.

Kiera Maloney led the way for Hoopa in 18th. 

The sixth and final H-DNL regular-season races will be hosted by Northcoast Prep next Wednesday, with the league championship set for Nov. 16 in Eureka.

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