Cross country runners from both Sumner and Bonney Lake kept their rivalry alive Sept. 8 when they challenged one another in a nonleague meet at the 2.8-mile Demonstration Forest course in Bonney Lake.

Just like last season, before Sumner dropped to a smaller 2A classification, the scores on both the girls and boys side of things were close, as the Bonney Lake boys won 27-29 and the BLHS girls won 24-33.

Bonney Lake harriers crossed the line first in both races. Panther sophomore Marie Wilson ran the course in 18 minutes, 22 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Sierra Espinal and a full minute ahead of Sumner’s nearest trailer Gabby Phelps, who was third with a time of 19:22.

In the boy’s race, Bonney Lake’s Reed Hawkins was first with a time of 15:52 and Panther cohort Nolan Weber was hot on Hawkins’ heels with a second place time of 16:08. Sumner’s Cory Brandt leaned across the finish line at 16:32 for a third-place finish.

Sumner coach Kristin Martin noted after the race that her girls did a good job of working together and finishing strong. The numbers on the final times sheet bore that out. The Spartans’ Leah Engelhardt finished sixth with a time of 20:55 and the next four runners behind her also wore purple and gold.

In the Capital High “class races” Saturday, Sumner High took 18 runners and Martin was encouraged by the performances of sophomores Coltin Tanner and Jose Hernandez.

The SHS sophomore girls did not disappoint, either. Natasha Wilson, Katie Wire and Jasmine Babcock all crossed the finish line in less than 20 minutes and Kaitlin Drennen managed a clocking of 20:31.