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Juniors Claire Gast of Eureka and Evan Poston of Arcata claimed league titles in H-DNL cross country over the weekend, but that wasn’t the only big story of the day.

Fortuna’s Madison Ruiz placed second in the girls race and was one of four Huskies to finish in the top seven, as they ended Arcata’s long reign as conference champions.

No one seems quite sure when was the last time Fortuna won a girls team championship, but the Tigers had claimed the league title every year since 2017.

“One thing I noticed this year is they all kind of got into running together, and I think they kind of pull each other along,” Fortuna head coach Vince Zinselmeir said. “It was awesome and I’m proud of the girls for sure.”

Fortuna’s Brida Lester placed third, while teammates Alexa McCall and Elizabeth Stevens finished fifth and seventh, respectively, giving the Huskies a league-high four all-league selections.

As a team, the Huskies scored 31 points, followed by Arcata (41) and Eureka (55).

“We knew going in it was going to be whoever ran well that day, and you could tell the Fortuna girls were locked in,” Arcata assistant coach Davita McGoldrick said. “The Fortuna girls ran very, very well.”

Led by Poston, the Tigers won the boys league title, scoring 21 points, with Eureka (40) in second.

As expected, it was another exciting three-way battle for the boys individual title, much as it has been all year, with Poston crossing the finish line of the 5K course in a time of 16 minutes, 11.74 seconds, just two seconds faster than Fortuna sophomore Juan Ornelas (16:13.80).

Eureka’s Ryder Bullman rounded out the top three and crossed the line barely two seconds farther back in a time of 16:16.09.

“All three are great runners, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch them compete all season long,” Arcata assistant coach Davita McGoldrick said. “It could easily have been any one of them that won that race.”

Zinselmeir echoed the sentiment.

“It’s kind of been back and forth, it seems, every race,” the Fortuna coach said of the trio, who took the top three spots in the four league races they all competed in this fall. “They all push each other. (Saturday’s race) was a really close race. They were kind of right next to each other. 

“Evan had a little more at the end.”

Madison Ruiz, left, and Elizabeth Stevens.

The Arcata junior has put in the work this year, and it paid off as he improved from a sixth-place finish at last year’s league championships.

“He has been doing very well,” McGoldrick said. “He listens, and he’s been dedicated to his training, and he ran really well.”

Arcata’s Caden Demers (17:15.00) and Eureka’s Reece Sipma (17:20.56) placed fourth and fifth, with Arcata’s Ocean Walker and Sebastian Amaro, Eureka’s Sean Morris, Arcata’s Gianni Orlandi and Eureka’s Jackson Stratman finishing sixth through 10th. 

Luke Padilla led Del Norte in 14th, Jason Weldon led McKinleyville in 16th and Joseph Smith led Hoopa in 25th.

The girls race, meanwhile, was dominated once again by Gast, who has now placed first in 11 of the 12 league races she has competed in since the start of last season.

The outstanding Gast crossed the finish line of the 5K course in a time of 20:26.74, almost a minute and a half faster than the field.

Ruiz (22:01.06) placed second, less than a second faster than Lester (22:01.94).

Arcata’s Zoe Cappuccio (22:21.68) and McCall (22:31.46) rounded out the top five, followed in turn by Arcata’s Sonya Chisholm, Stevens, Eureka’s Rathlin Hemmingsen, and Arcata’s Nehla Espiritu-Blackstone and Hadley Brownfield.

The JV boys race was won by Arcata’s Brayden Ford in a time of 18:07.30, with Eureka’s Jack Fisher in second and Arcata’s Micah Cristian in third.

But the day belonged to the Fortuna girls as much as anyone, with all of their runners rising to the challenge as the season progressed.

“Madison is one that has come on,” Zinselmeir said. “She was probably our No. 3 runner for the first part of the season, but  the last three weeks she has really come on and had a breakthrough. Something clicked with her. She’s got it dialed in.”

Lester also picked up the pace late in the season and ran a PR at the league championships, while McCall has been one of the Huskies’ most consistent performers all year.

“Alexa’s been real steady,” Zinselmeir said. “She’s been running real consistent, and she’s been getting better and better every year.”

Likewise with Stevens.

“Liz has just impressed me,” Zinselmeir said. “She’s been coming on and getting stronger.”

Zakayla Robinson led Del Norte in 11th, while Kiera Maloney led Hoopa in 23rd and Saffron Paxton paced McKinleyville in 28th.

There was no girls JV race.