Five different schools were represented among the six individual winners at the recent HRRAY youth cross country championships.
Organized by Humboldt Redwoods Running Association for Youth (HRRAY), the county championships featured young runners from kindergarten through eighth grade and capped a busy season of seven race events.
The championships were held at the Arcata Sports Complex on Oct. 15.
Trinidad Elementary and Jacoby Creek Elementary were among the biggest winners of the day.
Trinidad took home two team titles and an individual win, while Jacoby Creek was the only school to win two individual crowns and also took home one team win.
Trinidad second grader Faleen Barclay placed first in the girls K through second grade race, leading her school to a team victory with 54 points, which was just two points better than second-placed Coastal Grove Charter.
Fuente Nueva first grader Cora Yost was second, followed by Coastal Grove Charter’s Iris Burstein-Sinnott in third.
In the boys K through second race, Jacoby Creek second grader Zev Cowan was first home and led his school to a team championship in the division.
Fuente Neva second grader Finn Saxton was second across the line on the one-mile course, followed by Cowan’s teammate Bevan Hill in third.
Trinidad placed second to Jacoby Creek in the team championship.
In the boys third to fifth grade race, Cutten took the team win, scoring 61 points and edging Trinidad for the championship.
Fourth grader Granite Price of Cutten was first across the line in the two-mile course, followed by Sequoia Home School Running Club fifth grader Joseph Thomas in second and Trinity Valley fourth grader Thunder Morris in third.
Jacoby Creek fifth grader Charlotte Landis won the girls third through fifth grade race, followed by Garfield’s Sylvie Davis in second and Union Street Charter’s Frida Gratz in third.
Garfield Elementary had three runners in the top six and took the team championship in the division.
In the girls sixth through eighth grade race, Sunny Brae took both the team and individual victories.
Eighth grader Emerson Okin was first, followed by McKinleyville’s Elizabeth Pimentel in second and Winship’s Kinsley Yarbrough in third.
As a team, Sunny Brae scored 27 points for the championship, followed by Winship in second.
And rounding out a busy day of competition, Winship eight grader Grant Bumgardner took the victory in the boys sixth through eighth grade race, followed by McKinleyville’s Anthony Som in second and Jacoby Creek’s Julian Schultz in third.
Trinidad took the team win the division, followed by Jacoby Creek in second.
A total of 445 kids from around the county participated in the event, with the Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise providing medals and ribbons for the top-10 finishers in every grade.
