More than 730 high school and middle school students competed at the Hermiston-hosted Runner Soul XC Fest on Saturday morning.

The race, which started and ended at Sandstone Middle School, welcomed athletes from all over Eastern Oregon and southern Washington, including Hermiston, Stanfield, Umatilla, Heppner, Pasco and Kennewick. Races were divided up between middle school, junior varsity, and varsity teams.

But it wasn’t just the student athletes that got a chance to compete — in between tallying their results, an open race was held, inviting all community members — young and old — to take a stab at either the 1.5 mile or 5K courses.

“Everyone went out there and performed today,” said Hermiston cross country coach Troy Blackburn. “We just want to promote running.”

At the end of the day, eighth grader Taylor Fox of Union took first place in the boys’ middle school division with a time of 8:45.2, and seventh grader Kiah Carlson of La Grande won in the girls’ division, finishing in 10:10.4.

Yakima sophomore Dustin Young finished first in the boys’ junior varsity division in 18:47.4, and Hanford sophomore Madison Hughes was first in the girls’ JV category with 23:13.0 as her official time.

Union senior Tim Stevens was the boys’ varsity champion, finishing in 15:44.0, and Chiawana senior Alexa Neff was the girls’ varsity winner, finishing in 20:13.0.

Several Hermiston runners cracked the top 10 as well: Jacqueline Garcia Sandoval, seventh grade, took second place and eighth grader Marina Izaguirre Frasser took seventh place in the middle school girls’ division. Freshman Alexia Serna took eighth place in the girls’ junior varsity race, and freshman Edwin Sanchez was fourth overall in the boys’ junior varsity race.

“It was encouraging to see the freshmen run because you know they’re gonna get even better,” Blackburn said. “I have kids that have put in over 500 miles this summer. Cydney Sanchez, a freshman, lead our varsity team. She ran a tough race and passed a lot of people during the second half. When you see them keep pushing, it shows they have so much more in them.”

The Hermiston cross country team will travel to Oregon City next Saturday for the Oregon City XC Invitational.

RESULTS

VARSITY BOYS – 5K

1. Tim Stevens, 15:44.0, Union

2. Brayden Packard, 15:56.1, West Valley (Yakima)

3. Hunter Nichols, 16:51.4, Heppner

4. Austin Bachman, 16:58.4, Chiawana

5. Elias Torres, 16:58.7, Pasco

6. Bennett Welch, 16:59.2, La Grande

7. Jack Silveira, 17:01.3, Union

8. Quentin Rickey, 17:11.1, West Valley (Yakima)

9. Steven Dray, 17:14.9, West Valley (Yakima)

10. Cristian Mendoza, 17:21.4, La Grande

VARSITY GIRLS – 5K

1. Alexa Neff, 20:18.7, Chiawana

2. Kyla Hook, 20:41.8, Enterprise

3. Maia Vandervlugt, 20:54.3, La Grande

4. Alisa Fox, 20:59.4, Union

5. Abby Crews, 21:04,9, La Grande

6. Ellyse Tingelstad, 21:11.7 Enterprise

7. Audrey Wells, 21:19.0, Union

8. Melia Loe, 21:22.6, College Place

9. Caitlin Neff, 21:35.8, Chiawana

10. Jaimee Baxter, 21:44.4, Union

JUNIOR VARSITY BOYS – 5K

1. Dustin Young, 18:47.4, West Valley (Yakima)

2. Gavin Newston, 19:10.4, Helix

3. Mason LaPierre, 19:21.8, Sunnyside

4. Edwin Sanchez, 19:22.6, Hermiston

5. Lucas Hultberg, 19:26.2, Prosser

6. J. ‘Dane’ Voldman, 19:28.9, West Valley (Yakima)

7. Caleb Leavitt, 19:41.4, Chiawana

8. Russell Ridd, 19.47.1, West Valley (Yakima)

9. James Holliday, 19:48.5, Prosser

10. Isaac Skay, 19:59.9, College Place

JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLS – 5K

1. Madison Hughes, 23:13.0, Hanford

2. Kally Wilkins, 23:32.7, Condon/Wheeler

3. Kaylee Cope, 23:38.7, Helix

4. Iliana Moran, 24:21.3, Hanford

5. Ryann Stahancyk, 24:22.6, Helix

6. Leticia Gallegos, 24:58. 9, Pasco

7. Hannah Christman, 25:14.8, Helix

8. Alexia Serna, 25:29.1, Hermiston

9. Charlotte McDonald, 25:35.1, Enterprise

10. Morgan Woodward, 25:40.6, Chiawana

MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS – 1.5 Miles

1. Taylor Fox, 8:45.2, Union

2. Juan Diego, 8:53.6, The Dalles

3. Trevor Nichols, 9:17.2, Heppner

4. Keelan McBurney, 9:18.9, Enterprise

5. Roan Flynn, 9:32.5, Enterprise

6. Landon Perry, 9:35.8, La Grande

7. Nathaneal O’Reilly, 9:46.1, Union

8. Saul Lopez, 9:46.1, Heppner

9. Weston Wolfe, 9:49.1, Enterprise

10. David Cribbs, 9:52.4, Heppner

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS – 1.5 Miles

1. Kirah Carlson, 10:10.4, La Grande

2. Jacqueline Garcia Sandoval, 10:20.5, Hermiston

3. Kaitlin Brock, 10:33.0, La Grande

4. Cecilia Villagomez, 10:36.6, La Grande

5. Marielle Graffunder, 10:42.1, Union

6. Bailey Moore, 10:42.9, Helix

7. Marina Izaguirre Frasser, 10:52.4, Hermiston

8. Maezie Wilcox, 11:01.9, La Grande

9. Alexandra Cavan, 11:03.4, Heppner

10. Zandra Materson, 11:04.2, Heppner