Eureka’s Bullman, Bartlett lead the way in league opener at Fortuna

The 2026 H-DNL cross country season got under way on Wednesday, and it was a good start for a pair of Eureka Loggers.

The H-DNL runners traveled to Fortuna to begin the league season and both individual winners on the day enjoyed standout performances and comfortable wins for the Loggers.

In boys action, it was no surprise to see the top three runners from last year begin this year as the top three once again, but what was surprising was to see one of them take the victory by such a wide margin.

Eureka senior Ryder Bullman got league competition off to a flying start with a 53-second win.

Last year, there was little to separate Bullman, Fortuna’s Juan Ornelas and Arcata’s Evan Poston, with the latter taking the league title, and most of us expect these three to compete for the league crown once again this fall.

Early bragging rights this year go to Bullman, who placed third in league in 2025.

On Wednesday, he crossed the finish line in a time of 18 minutes, 4.5 seconds, comfortably setting an impressive pace.

Ornelas, the lone junior of the three, placed second with a time of 18:57.4, followed by Poston with a time of 19:01.5.

Poston barely edged out Eureka freshman Wyatt Davis for third, and if Davis’ first high school league race is any indication the youngster could be in for a big fall.

Davis crossed the line in a time of 19:02.1, barely more than a half second behind Poston.

He was the only freshman in the top nine.

Arcata’s Jaxon Lewis (19:10.6) placed fifth, followed directly by seven more Tigers, giving Arcata an impressive nine runners in the top 12.

Caden Demers (19:16.2), Sebastian Amaro (19:22.9), Parker Pierson (19:25.1), Flynt Ryno-Moore (19:25.6) and Liam Whitney (19:26.9) rounded out the top 10.

Whitney is also a freshman.

Kevin Trujillo led the way for Del Norte in 13th, while Austin Hatch led Brookings-Harbor in 27th and Scout Townsend led the way for McKinleyville in 48th.

In girls action, three different schools were represented in the top three.

Sophomore Iris Bartlett made it a good overall day for the Loggers with a dominating victory in her first league race.

The young runner won by more than two minutes, crossing the finish line in a time of 22:09.3.

Arcata senior Rose Mondragon led an impressive showing by the Tigers with a second-place finish, beating Brookings-Harbor freshman Leila Newman by 12 seconds.

Mondragon finished in a time of 24:14.6 and was the only senior in the top nine, while Newman finished in a time of 24:26.6.

The Tigers took the next four spots.

Zoey Gai placed fourth in a time of 24:32.1, making it two freshmen and a sophomore in the top four.

Arcata’s Zohe Veron (25:05.1), Zelia Stoll (26:16.4) and Eliana Lindsey (25:26.4) rounded out the top seven, followed by Del Norte’s Aria Cardenas (25:28.3) in eighth, and Arcata teammates Stella Jeandet (26:21.4) and Sonya Chisholm (26:28.3) next across the line.

Exactly half of the top eight were freshmen, including Lindsay and Cardenas.

Another freshman, Makenna Burgess, led the defending champion Fortuna girls in 13th, while yet another freshman, Leona Sobered, led McKinleyville in 21st.