The Soldotna cross-country team got in some early action on the trails at the Colony XC Invite Saturday in Palmer.
The Stars finished third in the boys team standings with a top finish of eighth by Lance Chilton, who covered the five-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 56 seconds. Anchorage Christian’s Blake Bennett won with time of 16:48, beating Gabe Martin of Grace by 26 seconds. The Grizzlies won the team title with a low score of 60 points, while Anchorage Christian took second with 78 points. SoHi finished with 83 points.
Bradley Walters finished as SoHi’s second runner in 13th with a time of 18:22. John-Mark Pothast was 18th in 18:38, Sean Verg-in was 20th in 18:43, Bechler Metcalf was 24th in 18:58 and Chance Reynolds was 34th in 20:14.
The SoHi girls finished third with 67 points, behind the 24 points of Grace Christian and the 41 of Colony. Kellie Arthur provided the team’s top finish in fourth with a time of 22:09, while Erika Arthur took 16th in 23:01. Sophie Wright of Palmer won with a time of 21:07, beating second-place Charlee Demientieff of Grace by 33 seconds.
Also for Soldotna, Sophie Thomas finished 27th with a time of 26:55, Mykenna Foster was 28th in 27:22, Eve Downing was 30th in 27:51 and Tovia Bremond-Hilton was 31st in 29:54.
