Hockinson’s Graysen Aldridge led the way as the Ridgefield boys and girls teams swept the team titles at the 2A District IV cross country championships on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Aldridge was in first place nearly from the starting gun to the finish line en route to a class 2A District IV girls cross country championship win by 25-seconds over second place.
Aldridge finished the 5,000-meter race at the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland with a time of 19-minutes and 32-seconds.
While Aldridge breezed into a first-place finish, she had hoped to have some runners along with her fast pace from the start.
“I was hoping I’d have people around me for a little bit,” Aldridge told reporters. “But I’m going to go out as I normally do. Nobody wanted to go with me.”
Aldridge now looks to cap off her senior season with her best finish at the state championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Pasco. After last year's 28th place finish, she's looking to top that by at least 18 spots.
“I’d love to see a top 10 (finish),” Aldridge said.
As for the 2A team scores, the Ridgefield boys and girls squads stood at the top of the team podiums on Oct. 29.
The Spudder girls were led by sophomore Abigail Peck, who finished third, and senior Jael Benedick, who followed in fourth place. For the Ridgefield boys, junior Cooper Dollens earned fifth place with the rest of the Spudder boys all placing within the top-30.
The Hockinson boys and girls teams earned second place with senior Tanner Hood earning a second place finish in the 2A boys race.
The Woodland Beavers’ boys squad had a pair of runners, Paul Lee and Danery Villagran, finish with the exact same time for 20th and 21st place in the 2A boys race to qualify for the state meet.
