Even though the 44th Richland Invitational had a new course layout, the story was still the same. The course layout at Carmichael Middle School used to take runners up Carmichael Hill on a long slope, but now they climb the hill twice. It’s only physically taxing to reach the summit of a challenging hill at mile one. But to repeat the same effort later in the race requires some mental fortitude.

The Richland Invitational featured top ranked individuals and teams in both the boys and girls races. Despite the course changes and quality of the field, the winning tradition for North Central High School remained the same.

Junior Kai Wilmot won the boy’s race in 14:44.73 and lead North Central to their sixth consecutive Richland Invitational team title. On the girl’s side, Senior Katie Knight captured her third Richland Invitational individual title in four years with a time of 17:16:53.

The boy’s race featured a duel between two of the best runners in Washington. The national rankings before Saturday listed Seattle Prep High School junior Joe Hardy as the eighth best harrier while Kai Wilmot was ranked fifteenth.

Pre-race reports stated that Mead High School was going to run, which would have added senior Andrew Gardner to the field. Gardner entered the weekend as the seventh best runner in the nation.
 

Kai Wilmot
2011 cross country highlights

Race	Place	Time	Date
NXN Nationals	49	16:01.0	12/3/2011
OR-WA Border Clash	11	14:11.0	11/20/2011
NXN Northwest Region	5	15:50.5	11/12/2011
WA States-3A	8	15:33.6	11/5/2011
Richland Invitational	5	15:25.30	10/8/2011
Bob Firman Invitational	8	16:06.35	9/24/2011

 

2012 outdoor track and field highlights

Race	Place	Distance	Time	Date
WA States - 3A	3	3200m	9:01.83	5/26/12
Shoreline Invitational	1	3200m	8:57.66	4/28/12

Wilmot and Hardy have impressed so far this season. Hardy opened his season with a win in 14:57.10 at the Sundodger Invitational. The two met a week later at at the Bob Firman Invitational, where Hardy pulled away from Wilmot to win in 15:03.01. On Saturday, tables were turned with Wilmot picking up the victory.

 

Joe Hardy
 2011 cross country highlights

Race	Place	Time	Date
NXN Nationals	43	15:59.0	12/3/2011
OR-WA Border Clash	13	14:13.0	11/20/2011
NXN Northwest Region	5	15:50.5	11/12/2011
WA State Meet	4	15:21.4	11/5/2011
Richland Invitational	4	15:24.50	10/8/2011
Nike Pre-Nationals	8	15:49.00	9/24/2011

 

2012 outdoor track and field highlights

Race	Place	Distance	Time	Date
WA State Meet	3	1600m	4:09.89	5/26/12
WA State Meet	1	3200m	8:55.22	5/26/12

North Central is more than just one frontrunner. The perennial powerhouse have shown their depth at their last two meets with victories at the Bob Firman Invitational and last Saturday at the Richland Invitational. The Indians posted a blazing 15:47.62 team average could rival other high caliber teams if or when they meet at NXN.

The girl’s race featured another North Central athlete who is (again) making waves in the national rankings. Two highly ranked harriers went toe to toe and the rankings were once again reversed. Senior Katie Knight (US#12) from North Central HS  came home with the win against sophomore Alexa Efraimson (US#8) from Camas High School.

Knight won in 17:16.53 while Efraimson finished close behind in 17:22.87.
 

Katie Knight
2012 cross country highlights

Race	Place	Time	Date
Richland Invitational	1	17:16.53	10/06/12
Bob Firman Invitational	1	17:59.46	9/22/12

 

2011 cross country highlights

Race	Place	Time	Date
Great Edinburgh 4K	4	15:24.0	1/7/2012
NXN Nationals	3	17:45.0	12/3/2011
OR-WA Border Clash	1	15:44.0	11/20/2011
NXN Northwest Region	2	17:58.1	11/12/2011
WA State Champ - 3A	1	17:10.6	11/5/2011

 

2012 outdoor track and field highlights

Race	Place	Distance	Time	Date
WA 3A State Meet	1	1600m	4:50.20	5/26/12
Arcadia Invitational	3	3200m	10:20.11	4/7/12

Efraimson has had tough competition in two of her three cross country meets this year. At the Stanford Invitational, she took second to arguably the best female cross country runner in Washington, Amy-Eloise Neale.

Even with only one cross country season under her belt, Efraimson has shown that she has the potential to be among the top competitors in years to come. She was the top freshman finisher at NXN last year in 14th place and has shown incredible speed at the middle distances.
 

Alexa Efraimson
2012 cross country highlights

Race	Place	Time	Date
Richland Invitational	2	17:22.87	10/6/12
Hudson's Bay Run-A-Ree	1	18:00.00	9/7/12
Stanford Invitational	2	17:04.00	9/29/12

 

2011 cross country highlights

Race	Place	Time	Date
NXN Nationals	14	18:16.0	12/3/2011
OR-WA Border Clash	4	16:16.0	11/20/2011
NXN Northwest Region	3	18:23.1	11/12/2011
Washington States - 3A	3	17:55.9	11/5/2011

 

2012 outdoor track and field highlights

Race	Place	Distance	Time	Date
Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays	1	1500m	4:23.41	5/4/12
Centennial Invitational	1	800m	2:08.92	4/28/12

Although the changes to Carmichael Middle School reportedly made the course more difficult, both winning times for both races were new meet records. The previous course records were held by Anthony Armstrong in 14:52.03 from 2011 and Katie Knight in 17:35 from 2011.

If Hardy, Wilmot, Knight, Efraimson and the North Central boys should all meet again the NXN Northwest Regional in November. If everything goes according to plan, then they'll all be in Portland for NXN in December.