UMATILLA — The Union/Cove boys cross-country team prepared for the upcoming 3A/2A/1A Special District 3 meet with a win over seven opposing teams at the FootRace to Valhalla on Friday, Oct. 13, in Umatilla.

The Bobcat boys held off Wallowa Valley in the team standings with Union/Cove ending the day with 33 points compared to the Outlaws’ 53 points. Imbler ran fourth with Riverside in the third slot.

Union/Cove senior Eli Willams picked up his sixth first-place showing of the year, crossing the finish line in 16 minutes, 24.4 seconds. Three additional Bobcats placed in the top 10, including Nathanael O’Reily in fourth (16:51.6), sophomore William Mallory in eighth (17:49.7) and freshman Ian Garlitz in 10th (18:07.3).

Imbler also saw a top-10 finish as Adam Gordon ran seventh in the field with a time of 17:41.8.

The Union/Cove girls placed second in the team scores followed by Elgin in third. While Wallowa Valley grabbed the team title with 19 points, Union/Cove put up 41 points while Elgin scored 80 points.

While not having a team score, Imbler junior Paiten Braseth finished third in the race behind Outlaw runners Owyhee Harguess and Abigail Hurley. Braseth just missed the sub-21 minute mark, crossing the finish in 21:01.2.

Sophomore Taylor Weishar proved to be the quickest Bobcat, placing fifth after a time of 21:28.8. Junior Josie Patton was also within the top 10 to cross the line, placing ninth with a time of 21:46.7. The top runner for the Elgin Huskies proved to be senior Charlee Morehead after placing 17th.

Union/Cove, Elgin and Imbler now prepare for the 3A/2A/1A District 3 meet to be held at Pendleton Community Park on Oct. 27.