Submitted photos

The big stage didn’t seem to bother two of the best H-DNL cross country runners over the weekend.

Eureka junior Ryder Bullman and Fortuna sophomore Juan Ornelas both made the trip for the CIF state championships in Fresno on Saturday, and both runners impressed in their final event of the high school season while competing together in the Division-4 race.

Bullman led the way and finished 56th out of 209 runners in the division, with Ornelas just nine spots further back in 65th.

And Bullman saved his best for last, setting a new PR and finishing the 5K course in a time of 16 minutes, 8 seconds.

Ornelas crossed the finish line in a time of 16:16.3.

The two local standouts enjoyed a big season competing together, along with Arcata league champion Evan Poston, another junior.

In the four league races they all ran, the three rivals took the top three spots each time.

Poston took the league title and followed that with a 27th place finish at the recent North Coast Section Division-3 championships.

Ornelas was second in league, before placing 12th at the Division-4 NCS championships, while Bullman was third in league and 13th in the NCS Division-4 championships.

All three are expected back next year and should only continue to improve and push each other.