By Bob Mortenson
Herald Writer
Their futures are promising, but for now the present gleams bright.
Participating in the 13-14 year old division Matthew Kaftanksi, Keith Bjella and Axel Stanovsky, all of Everett, helped carry the Rain City Flyers to the championship at the Junior Olympics Pacific Northwest Regional Cross Country Championship at Sandy, Ore. Nov. 17.
Kaftanski, an 8th grader at Immaculate Conception grade school in Everett, placed third overall covering the muddy 2.5-mile course in a time of 13:39. Bjella and Stanovsky finished 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in a field of 64 top runners from Oregon, Washington, Northern Idaho and Alaska.
The Flyers, a Puget Sound area running club for boys and girls ages 6-18, took the team trophy with 39 points, finishing comfortably ahead of the 66 recorded by Team Ephrata and the Salem Track Club.
Kaftanksi and Bjella, an 8th grader at North Middle School, will help lead the team at nationals Dec. 8 at Lincoln, Neb. Stanovsky, a 7th grader at Evergreen Middle School, just missed qualifying, but is an alternate. The team placed fifth last year in Reno and Coach Jim Neff is hoping for an outstanding effort and perhaps another top five finish.
“We’ve got a lot of depth,” Neff said.
Kaftanski, victorious in all seven meets this season before settling for a close third at the regional meet, may figure in the hunt for the individual title.
“He’s a pretty solid contender,” Neff said. “He’s got a huge amount of potential. Hopefully he’s got a great high school career ahead of him.”
In the girl’s 13-14 regional competition Rain City placed third and will send a contingent to national’s that includes Gabrielle Fraley, an 8th grade student at Heatherwood Middle School in Mill Creek, who placed 25th.
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