Olympia XC Classic 2026 Recap: Lanese's 9:50.8 and Peninsula's Breakout Day
LBA Park is situated just outside of downtown Olympia, nestled within the confines of neighborhoods and schools. It is home to a tangled trail system that is popular amongst XC teams, walkers, and recreational runners.
The Olympia XC Classic came to fruition in 2022, filling the gap left after the Capital Invite, held at Capital High School, stepped away. The majority of those teams left without an early season short course of this size. The annual race brings together over 30 schools.
The grade vs grade format gives everyone a gauge on where they are physically before jumping feet first into the 5000m format.
Freshmen will get their first chance to show what they've got and get acclimated to the format, how starts work, and just the overall chaos that can be an XC Saturday in the PNW. Officials will bring together the freshman athletes and coaches before the race and explain the starting protocols, something that isn't typically done later in the season.
Before the morning dew evaporates from the grass there is an open field lined with parents and teammates holding their phones in front of them, athletes dart the horizon as they jostle and hold their balance before the sound of the gun, the sound of cheering rises as the sound of feet pounding the ground like a stampede passes by.
Freshmen boys, lined up and locked in — first race of their high school careers about to begin.
The freshman girls surge off the line, Timberline's green jersey already forcing the pace.
XC has arrived.
I walked into Saturday's invitational with a lot of questions I hoped to answer, but what I received was a lot of surprises. I knew going in that the first two races of the day would be critical to watch as incoming talent would be front and center as the race progressed and eventually wound down to the finish. Who would cross the line first?
Elijah Ninnis breaks away alone, claiming the freshman boys title in his first-ever high school race.
Clover Park's Elijah Ninnis would win the boys freshmen race finishing well ahead of Gig Harbor's CK Cereghino, and eventually his teammate Luke Simmonds would finish in 3rd. On the girls side Sierra Frank (Hanford) secured a convincing win ahead of Peninsula's Gisela Macsalka and 3rd place Gianna Hill (Lakes).
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Quenton Lanese runs untouched to a 9:50.8 — the #2 mark in Olympia XC Classic history.
The sophomore race left little to the imagination as Quenton Lanese scorched the course with an impressive 9:50.8, moving him up on the course records list to 2nd. Jackson's frontrunner Carter Corrigan finished in 10:30.0, and Peninsula's Nolan Winderl finished 15.9 seconds behind in 3rd.
Hennen and Stevick shoulder to shoulder at the gun, with Auburn's Mearafu and Way right there from the start.
Leah Hennen and Gemma Stevick (Olympia) would go one and two in the girls race, with Auburn's Kisanet Mearafu a step behind Stevick.
Ella Savage sets the pace out front, en route to a 13-second win in the junior girls race.
The junior boys race would see Wyatt Harding (Peninsula), Cecil Gumaelius (Aberdeen), and Galen Peloquin (Gig Harbor) as the top 3. Gig Harbor's Ella Savage would win the girls race by over 13 seconds ahead of White River's Victoria Blakley. Peninsula's Ascher Lascheck would round out the top-3 for the juniors.
As the senior boys lined up, I felt a lump in my stomach. As the boys warmed up, I recalled snapping a photo of the Olympia boys on the starting line four years ago. I told Jack Mc Durmon and Wesley Stevick to gather everyone so that I could capture that photo in the exact spot again. As I framed my shot, I couldn't help but feel incredible joy, yet saddened by the fact that my son was standing square in the middle of that group and this was his, their final season at Olympia.
Same spot, same shot, four years later — the Olympia senior boys before their final Classic.
Freshman year, same starting line — the shot Russell would come back to find again four years later.
After I took the photo, I moved away from the start line to find a position to capture the start. As the athletes darted off into the distance, I moved across the course, still a little in my feelings about this race. For me there was a lot of things going through my mind - after all, this was the first race that I seriously took photos at. Four years flies by and I have grown to enjoy being around many of these kids, they are familiar, they fist bump me, high five me, I celebrate their victories just as they celebrate my photos.
Andujar grinds through the final stretch, locking in a 10:18.7 win.
I knew going into the finish line chute that I was going to be capturing a lot more photos than I had in earlier heats. I settled in and waited for the leader to round the corner and come into focus. Yelm's Marcos Andujar was a man on a mission as he sped to the finish line, finishing in 10:18.7. Auburn's Jordan Conner would finish in 2nd place, with Gig Harbor's Jack Greer just behind him in third.
State Watch // 2026
Every name here
is already ranked.
Lanese, Poelman, Hennen, Savage — all tracked on the board for the season that counts. A 2-mile early opener won't move a 5K ranking, but it's an early look at who's chasing whom.
Open State Watch →Full 4A / 3A / 2A rankings · Updated after every meet
Before the gun even goes off, Poelman and Blakley share a smile — calm before a race Poelman would win outright.
Just ahead of the girls senior race, I walked past White River's Paeton Poelman as she began warming up. I asked "you ready?" to which she replied "I'm nervous," and I couldn't help but chuckle. I couldn't imagine how she would be nervous, but I had to remind myself that even I get nervous before races that I'm not even in. For a senior who has had progression like Poelman it would be easy to understand why. The race would be full of talented runners that could challenge her. Poelman was the 2025 junior winner, so defending her victory was certainly something to think about.
After the start of the race, I caught the leaders just ahead of the 1-mile mark, and Poelman had already pulled away from the group with Carolina Schilter (Olympia) and Deejay Taylor (Yelm) running 2 and 3 side by side. Somewhere along the line later in the race, Schilter and Alexandra Broome (Tumwater) would shuffle their way ahead. Poelman would cross the line first with a huge smile on her face in 12:00.5, Schilter in 12:30.5, and Broome in 12:45.6.
The Olympia XC Classic continues to live up to the hype. An early season, short course, invitational of this size just feels electric and electric it was.
The Biggest Surprise
Macsalka runs Peninsula into the freshman girls podium — one piece of the Seahawks' quietly dominant day.
Peninsula High School's athletes found their way into the front portions of the field all day long, to the point where it was easily noticeable as I was snapping photos. The Seahawks are always a team I enjoy watching, but they were not on my radar this year. They would go on to win the freshman boys and junior boys races as a team, and finish second in the senior girls race.
Seahawks finishing in the top 10: Wyatt Harding (1st), Gisela Macsalka (2nd), Nolan Winderl (3rd), Levi Steffy (6th), Palmer Schumacher (7th), Wade Schumacher (8th), and Wilson Shipp (9th).
Combining the scores for the day, Peninsula finished 3rd overall. A strong signal for the coaching staff as they head into the Fort Steilacoom Invitational next week.
Impressions
Gig Harbor's boys huddle up one last time before the gun — the team that would post the lowest score of the day.
Gig Harbor's boys finished the day with the lowest score, displaying that the road to Pasco has officially kicked off. The 3A Tides finished 6th last season and are ranked 3rd/4th in the preseason rankings.
The Olympia girls took the top spot with a measly 37 points in the opening race of the season, confirming why they were placed at 1st/2nd in preseason polls. Led by a deep sophomore class and anchored by two seniors - the Bears are off to a good start.
Olympia's Quenton Lanese would deliver the only sub-10:00 mark on the day with a 9:50.8. White River's Paeton Poelman secured the fastest girls time of the meet in 12:00.5.
Most of these teams will be competing at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational next weekend. Seeing these teams on a full 5000m course in what is to be one of the biggest invitationals of the season will set the early gauge for how things are shaping up.
