The 2026 HOKA John Payne XC Invitational, hosted Saturday, Oct. 3 in University Place, was a hotspot for personal records for Thurston County cross country runners.
At the top of the list of finishers from the area is Tumwater senior Alexandra Broome, who posted a runner-up finish in the girls silver 5K race at 19 minutes, 30.1 seconds. Rainier junior Komaire Robles finished in fourth at 19:52.2, and North Thurston sophomore Lily Aardahl took 11th at 20:57.5.
Capital’s girls team had a strong showing in the silver race, headlined by freshman Emma Lamont’s PR of 22:24.3. Senior Bella Lang also set a personal-best time of 22:52.5, beating her previous best time by 25 seconds. Junior Abigail Ding ran a time of 23:20.9 for a new PR, and junior Avey Garner was just two seconds off her PR at 22:42.7.
River Ridge junior Xyla Camp improved her lifetime-best time to 22:44.3 in the silver race.
The highest finisher on the boys side was Yelm senior Marcos Andujar, who continued his blistering start to his final prep season with a seventh-place finish at 15:33.8 in the boys gold race. Pope John Paul II freshman Micah Henry broke his own school freshman record again with a 29th-place time of 16:04.8, and his teammate Kevin Hu, the reigning 1B state champion, finished in 35th at 16:16.0.
Yelm senior Peter Robbins took 53rd at 16:38.3, and Capital sophomore Quin Walz’s season-best time of 16:38.9 earned him 55th.
In the girls gold race, Yelm senior Deejay Taylor ran a 32nd-place time of 19:33.6, and Pope John Paul II freshman Kyra Deutscher set another PR at 19:55.6 to take 54th. Both schools saw multiple PRs in that race, as Pope John Paul II freshman Mira Valpiani (93rd at 20:43.9), Yelm senior Amaya Brown (96th at 20:45.7), and Yelm junior Ryleigh Hernandez (100th at 20:47.8) all ran the best 5Ks of their prep careers. Pope John Paul II senior Isla Valpiani also came in 66th place at 20:13.0.
Tenino sophomore Weston Frank was the area’s top runner in the boys bronze race with a PR of 17:52.8, a staggering improvement from his previous best time of 19:36.7. Rochester junior Kian Christiansen, at 18:14.0, earned 28th, and River Ridge junior Maximus Duran’s PR time of 18:36.6 was enough for 50th.
In the top 60 were Rainier sophomore Shane Parker (52nd with a PR of 18:40.7), Tenino senior Josiah Marzolf (54th at 18:42.2) and River Ridge junior Antonio Hopson (56th with a PR of 18:46.7).
Tumwater sophomore Tyler Clark led the area contingent in the boys silver race in 13th place at 16:45.0, just one second away from matching his PR. North Thurston senior Landen Krom was also a tick off his best time, snatching a 30th-place finish at 17:05.1.
