HERMISTON — The Hermiston girls are co-champions of the Mid-Columbia Conference with Kamiakin after beating the Braves by five points in the team standings at the second MCC meet at Lawrence Scott Park in Kennewick on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Both teams finished the regular season 15-1.

“It was just exciting” Hermiston coach Troy Blackburn said. “They went after it. We beat them in four of the five spots. It was awesome to see. We are excited for the girls.”

Megan Joyce led the Bulldogs, finishing third with a season-best 18:33.60 over the 3-mile course. Liz Newman was right behind in fourth (18:35.30), followed by Lillian Fields (6th, 18:50.32), Taylor Blackburn (19th, 19:58.48), and Maggie Meenderinck (23rd, 20:07.18).

Hermiston finished first in the team standings with 55 points, while Kamiakin had 60, and Hanford and Chiawana were a distant third with 108.

Kennewick’s Morgan Thompson won the race in a time of 18:13.10.

In the boys race, Hermiston’s John Mills and Jaysen Rodriguez finished third and fourth, and the Bulldogs were second in the team standings to Kamiakin.

“They ran very well,” Blackburn said of Mills and Rodriguez. “Those were the fastest times we have had on this course. Johnny ran 50 seconds faster than last year, and Jason was 30 to 40 seconds faster. Miguel Fuentes ran out of his mind (14th, 16:03.08). A couple of meets ago, he wasn’t even on our varsity.”

On the season, Hermiston (14-2) finished second to Kamiakin (16-0).

Kamiakin’s Erza Teeples won Thursday’s race with a time of 14:56.08, leading the Braves to the team title with 36 points.

Mills ran a 15:10.32, and Rodriguez was right behind at 15:15.78. Fuentes was third for the Bulldogs, followed by Hunter Hansell (22nd, 16:22.89) and Franco Gonzalez-Mendoza (23rd, 16:23.63).

“Our guys are running tough,” Blackburn said.

VERNONIA INVITATIONAL — Heppner’s Lily Nichols ran a personal best 18:39.40 to finish second and lead the Mustangs to the team title at Anderson Park.

It’s the first time Nichols, a sophomore, has run under 19 minutes

Heppner finished with 38 points as Arianna Worden finished third (20:20.10), followed by Riley Archer (7th, 20:49.70), Brooklyn Hendricks (16th, 21:31), and Hailey McDaniel (18th, 21:39.90).

Sophie Schoolmeester of Banks won the race with a time of 18:19.40.

Heppner’s Grady Greenwood won the boys race with a personal best time of 15:51.80. It’s the first time he has run under 16 minutes.

The Mustangs finished fourth in the teams standings with 130 points. Banks won the team title with 40 points, placing all five of their runners in the top 15.

Also scoring for Heppner were Jake Wilson (20th, 18:15.10), Carson Greenwood (25th, 18:26.30), Max Wilson (45th, 19:34.50), and Quaid Jensen (59th, 20:15.20).

Volleyball

IONE/ARLINGTON 3, CONDON 0 — Grace Claughton had seven kills and four blocks as the Cardinals picked up a 25-20, 25-15, 25-12 Big Sky League road win over the Blue Devils in their final league game.

The Cardinals finished the regular season 10-1 in league play and are 17-3 overall.

“We worked hard on our mental game,” I/A coach Dawn Eynetich said. “Worked on staying positive and moving on from mistakes. Really proud of how well they played tonight.”

Calli Troutman added five kills and three blocks, while Phegley Padberg had 20 assists and six aces.

GRANT UNION 3, IRRIGON 0 — The Prospectors kept their spot at the top of the Blue Mountain Conference standings with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-20 road win over the Knights.

Claire Mueller led the Knights (3-5 BMC) with 13 kills, eight digs and three aces, while Leah Mueller had 14 assists, five digs and three kills. Kaydence Emery added six digs and two kills, Lesly Martinez three aces and a block, and Kassadie Griffin two aces.

STANFIELD 3, HEPPNER 1 — The Tigers ended a four-game losing streak with a 23-25, 27-25, 25-13, 26-24 Blue Mountain Conference home win over the Mustangs.

“Heppner is tough,” Stanfield coach Blaine Ganvoa said. “Tonight we were forced to show up and compete from start to finish, and I believed we accomplished that.”

Mazie Reeser led the Tigers with 26 kills, 21 digs and two blocks, while Mykael Graham handed out 38 assists and had five aces. Kylee Jackson added 14 kills, 23 digs and three blocks, while Kaleigha Haney and Kayla Monkus each had 13 digs, and Marissa Schnell and seven digs and two blocks.

“It was nice to see the ladies come together today and pull out the win after some trying matches of late,” Ganvoa said.

For Heppner, Hallee Hisler had 10 kills, 18 digs and three blocks, while Ava Gerry had nine kills, 13 assists, 10 digs and seven aces, Maya Payne nine kills, 15 assists, 11 digs and two blocks, Morgan Cutsforth nine kills and 19 digs, and Katie Spivey 20 digs.

“Even though we didn’t end up with the win, we played well tonight,” Heppner coach Mindy Wilson said. “It was a true battle at the net. Our hitters were on, but so were theirs. Still very proud of their efforts.”

The Mustangs and Tigers are tied for second in the conference standings at 6-2 behind Grant Union (7-1).

ECHO 4, UNION 1 — Jaki Bartoschek had 16 kills — with no hitting errors — as the Cougars finished Old Oregon League play with a 25-19, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21 home win over the Bobcats.

Echo finished 9-1 in league play and is 11-11 overall.

Nevaeh Thew added 12 kills , 15 assists and five aces, while Kenzie Hendrix added 11 assists, Zoe Harvey 17 digs, and Athina Siedman 11 digs.

The first round of the 1A state playoffs begin Oct. 25.

Prep girls soccer

HERMISTON 5, KENNEWICK 4 — Aylin Ramirez scored four goals as the Bulldogs held on for a Mid-Columbia Conference win over the Lions at Lampson Stadium.

“It was a battle tonight that we didn’t expect,” Hermiston coach Omar Medina said.

Ramirez scored three of her goals in the first half as the Bulldogs took a 3-2 lead.

Ramirez would score once more in the second half, and Madi Franke added a goal to seal the win.

“We had had two JV girls (Melanie Villegas and Jazlyn Gonzalez) swing up to play today and they both did amazingly well,” Medina said. “Kianna (Gutierrez Munoz) had an incredible top drawer save, and ended the game with six saves.”