The Cashmere Bulldogs cross-country team kicked off their South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) season on Wednesday with an impressive showing at Wahluke High School. Racing on a 5-kilometer grass course laid out around the school’s campus, the Bulldogs took on conference rivals Wapato and Royal, competing for early-season points in the SCAC standings.

The Cashmere girls team dominated the competition, defeating both Wapato and Royal behind a strong pack effort. The girls placed seven runners in the top 20 out of 45 total competitors.

Allie Neff led the Bulldogs with a standout 2nd-place finish in 21:23, followed by Maggie Butcher in 5th at 23:01. Rounding out the scoring were Annika Peterson (9th, 23:46), Danna Infante (10th, 23:47), and Ruby Edwards (17th, 25:19). Also finishing strong for Cashmere were Abigail Kim (18th, 25:32), Jasmin Dowell (19th, 25:36), and Vansee Wheeler (23rd, 26:51).

On the boys’ side, the Bulldogs earned a win over Wapato and narrowly missed out on a sweep, falling just short against a strong Royal Knights squad. The boys’ race featured 92 runners.

Rylan Reiber led all runners, claiming the individual title with a commanding win in 17:46. Teammates Emmett Brown (7th, 19:28) and Cody Albright (9th, 19:31) helped keep the Bulldogs in contention. Uriah Miller (15th, 20:01) and Christian Kim (17th, 20:08) both posted personal bests, rounding out the scoring five. Also contributing strong efforts were Misael Alejo (20th, 20:12), Judah Lewis (33rd, 21:07), and Oscar Green (34th, 21:08).

While College Place and host Wahluke also competed in the meet, they were not head-to-head opponents for the Bulldogs in this SCAC contest.

Next up, the Bulldogs travel to College Place next Wednesday for their second conference meet of the season.