Highlander Invitational: East Valley’s Logan Hofstee wins girls race in convincing fashion; Freeman’s Barrett Poulson boys champ

When the September morning is brisk and crisp and you can smell the seasons changing from summer to fall, that can only mean one thing in Spokane: high school cross country has returned.

For the 35 schools that ascended onto Shadle Park High School on Saturday for the Highlander Invitational, that wasn’t quite the feeling they got.

Recent fires throughout the Inland Northwest plagued the Spokane area with poor air quality on the morning of the races, putting officials and administrators in a tough position as to whether they should call the meet off and send everyone home.

While further discussion went on, the morning smoke began clearing the area and opened up a window of fresher air. Those in charge then gave coaches the option of whether they wanted their athletes to compete or cancel the meet.

The answer from coaches, “Let’s race.”

After waiting for an hour and a half from the first scheduled race, the meet got underway with combined boys and girls races rather than the traditional class races.

East Valley’s Logan Hofstee kicked things off in the girls race with a convincing win on the 2.5-mile course, running in a personal best time of 14 minutes, 44 seconds – winning by 38 seconds.

“I’m happy I was able to pull out the win,” Hofstee said. “This was definitely my first invite running alone, so I have a lot to learn for this season.”

The EV up-and-comer was the clear favorite heading into the meet after finishing off a sophomore season where she placed second at the 2A state meet just months after completing her first-ever high school cross country race. At last year’s Highlander Invite, she took fifth overall in a field featuring intense competition that included two eventual state champions.

This year, she was the one up front and in complete control.

“It was weird,” Hofstee said. “Last year, I had other girls near me, and it was easier to run with people than it is alone. I’m still learning that side of running.”

Mead junior Charlotte Cullen – seventh at State 3A track in the 800 last spring – finished second behind Hofstee in a time of 15:20. Behind Cullen were two more Panthers finishing in the top-10 as juniors Elle Vanning and Raegan Borg finished fifth and ninth in 15:34 and 15:49.

Lewis and Clark senior Bridget Burns led the way for the Tigers placing third in 15:24. Lakeside sophomore Sadie Meyring took fourth in 15:27 and EV senior Abby Crossley was sixth in 15:38.

On the boys side, Freeman’s Barrett Poulsen made a statement of his own, coming away with the win in a much-improved effort. The junior went from placing third in the sophomore race last season to placing first in this year’s combined race in a personal best time of 13:04 – one minute, 37 seconds faster than last year’s effort.

“I just wanted to stick with the front and close hard in the end,” Poulsen said. “Coming around over on the loop, I was just inching away from the other guys, and I thought, ‘This doesn’t feel crazy hard, maybe I’ll just try to push the pace a little bit’. It worked out.”

Poulsen – 29th at the State 1A meet last fall – battled it out with Mead seniors Noah Holden and Jonathan Lieb and Lakeside senior Hayden Blank for a good portion of the race as they were right with each other for 1.5 miles. As they kept moving further and further ahead in the second half, Poulsen initiated a move that began to separate him from the rest of the field.

Making one more go around the water tower on the northside of the course, Poulsen took one final look over his shoulder to see the separation from the pack before making his last surge onto the track to finish the final 300 meters, leading up to him crossing the finish line two seconds ahead of the competition.

“It felt really nice to get out there and run fast for the first time since June,” Poulsen said. “It was a lot of fun, and I was just hoping for the best.”

Holden and Blank sprinted their way to finish second and third place in exact times of 13:06 with Holden crossing the finish line by a few inches to secure second. Lieb wasn’t far behind finishing in fourth, running 13:10.

Shadle Park senior Luke Hammond finished fifth overall in 13:22. Chewelah junior Ty Crockett took eighth in 13:36.