Maple Ridge secondary’s Marquesis Haintz is turning more than a few heads during the cross-country season.
The Grade 8 student moved up an age category at the Hole and the Wall XC Invitational in Arlington, Washington on Saturday and left the competition in her wake.
Haintz won her junior girls’ 5,000-metre event, Division 3, in a time of 21:38.7 seconds, more than two-and-a-half minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.
Teammate Hannah Nelson finished sixth with a time of 24:34.7.
Not to outdone, the team of the team of Emily Morely, Brooke and Blythe Parry, Bronte Elphick-Miner, Emma Hall, Isle Rafter and Nelson won the junior girls’ varsity team title in Division 2, a first for MRSS.
MRSS head coach Ken Elphick said it was a nice surprise for his runners to do so well in less than ideal conditions.
“We had a great day in the muddy, wet and windy conditions. Most of the races had a couple hundred competitors in them and the team did very well,” said Elphick.
During the junior varsity 5,000m team event, Rafter went wire to wire to take home top spot with a time of 21:31.8, while her teammates Morely finished second with a time of 21:49.8 and Brooke Parry finished fourth with a 21:58.9.
Jamie Hennessey continued her strong season, blowing past all 168 runners en route to winning the varsity girls’ 5,000 m event with a time of 19:44.5
Other notable performances included Marshall Shupe, who finished eighth in the 5,000 m competitive sophomore division, and Alex Ross, who ran the fastest race of the day, clocking a 17:42 in senior varsity.