Cross-country running

ROSEBURG — North Medford essentially held a team practice on a cross-country competition day Wednesday, dominating the 5,000-meter race for the boys as well as the 3,000-meter race for the girls in the Umpqua Opener at Stewart Park.

The Black Tornado boys ran away with their team victory in the 5K, posting four of the top five marks and, for good measure, seven of the top-14 individual results in a dominant team effort.

Junior runner Elijah Zavala set the pace in the 5,000 by closing in 16 minutes, 45.20 seconds, while senior teammate Logan Huffman was runner-up in 17:07.20.

Owen Neely (17:37.30) and Uriah Webster (17:44.10) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Black Tornado.

Other good marks came from Porter Webster (ninth, 18:10.20), Brayden Downey (13th, 18:26) and Zane Messer (14th, 18:28.)

St. Mary’s placed fifth as a team in the boys 5,000, led by a pair of juniors in Vincent Savage (21st, 18:54.30) and Elyan Bedolla (22nd, 18:56).

In the girls 3,000 meters, North Medford again claimed the team title after freshman Lily Zavala placed first in 12:30.04 and teammates Maritza Villa (fourth, 12:46.2) and Juliana Scull (fifth, 13:12.50) added top-5 marks.

The Black Tornado also saw Jocelyn Scull (14:09.59) and Lesly Constanza (14:09.92) place 10th and 11th, respectively, and Paige Uffens was 14th (14:26.54).

The St. Mary’s girls used a second-place outing from junior Bella Fortino (20:23) to finish fourth in the team standings in the girls 5,000.

Fellow Crusaders Annalise Denard (20th, 24:21), Marren Tignini (22nd, 25:08) and Natalie Hung (24th, 25:35) also fared well against competition from the likes of Roseburg, North Bend and Bandon.

In the boys 3,000, North Medford freshman Jackson Muffler was fifth (11:05.90), followed by teammates Cole Hale (18th, 12:16.40) and Kevin Solis (19th, 12:16.80).