The Islander Cross Country Teams got their first look at league and divisional competition Friday at the Saints Small School Invitational, held at Morley Field. Divisions III, IV and V ran together, with the results scored by division after the race.

The Boys Division IV results couldn’t have been much closer, with the Islanders winning by a single point over Bishop’s by the score of 50-51 (lower score wins). Mt. Empire was in third with 77 points, followed by Christian (93), Francis Parker (98), Preuss Academy, Horizon, Guajome Park, Canyon Crest, and Army-Navy. Three of our four Central League opponents, Christian, Madison, and Clairemont (the latter two schools in Division III) proved to not be contenders. The only Central League school not at this meet was perennial powerhouse Crawford.

Ben Enowitz led the Islander pack, finishing seventh overall with a time of 17:27 over the hilly 3.1-mile CIF and Footlocker National Championship course. He was followed by Michael Davies (15th in 18:16), Andrew Falkiewicz (31st, 19:00 minutes), David Grimes (32nd in 19:05) and Jack Harms (36th, 19:24). In the JV race, Cotter Stacy placed 14th in 20:37, followed by Ben Green, Jonny Poe and Ross Palmer.

The Girls placed third in the Division IV race, led by Karolin Ivarsson, who finished ninth over the 2.75-mile course in a time of 20:40. Sheila Braun was the second Islander finisher in 17th, followed by Anneka Nelson (18th), Allison Cabana (20th), Sarah Player (22nd), and Brigid Twomey (32nd).

We are missing a couple of key girls because of injury recovery and a college trip, so our relative strength against Central League competition is still a little fuzzy. Madison appears to be the team to beat in our league. When Marissa Nagler and Sammie Runyon are factored in to the results of the meet, it appears that our dual meet with Madison will decide the Central League championship.