British Columbia athletes showed their strength south of the border this past weekend, bringing home several victories from the 42nd annual Nike Hole in the Wall XC Invitational in Arlington, Washington. Hosted by Lakewood High School, the event is one of the largest and most competitive high school cross country meets in the Pacific Northwest, featuring more than 4,000 athletes across 14 races and BC athletes showed up in a BIG way.
Leading the way was Mennonite Educational Institute's Adrianna Buitelaar, who once again proved why she's among the best high school distance runners in the country. The senior dominated the elite women's race, running 16:47.9 to take the win and become the only athlete in the 139-person field to dip under 17 minutes. Her performance came within seconds of the course record, placing her among the fastest women ever to compete in the meet's 42-year history.
Another standout victory came from Laken Olson of Sardis Secondary, who took on more than 170 athletes in the Freshman/Sophomore Boys 5K. The Grade 10 runner surged ahead and took the win in 16:38.00, edging out Eagle High's Travis Gerard who crossed the finish line in second in a time of 16:40.60. Sardis added another gold to its tally thanks to senior Jonah Dyck, who captured the boys varsity bronze race title in 17:20.9.
In the girls JV gold race, Lyla Teer of Regent Christian Online Academy made a strong statement with a commanding win, clocking 18:56.2 to finish as the only athlete under 19 minutes in a field of more than 270 runners. Teer's victory margin was over 30 seconds.
While many other British Columbia athletes delivered strong performances across divisions, these four wins stood out as defining moments of the meet. BC runners made their mark on one of the biggest stages in North American high school cross country. The province's depth of talent continues to grow stronger every season.