John L. Braese
PAYETTE, ID. – In his scant two years of running cross country for Four Rivers, sophomore Oliver McDowall had yet to cross the finish line ahead of the remaining runners of a race. Until Wednesday, Sept. 25, McDowall’s best placement was seventh in his freshman year during the running of the Weiser Invite on Sept. 1, 2023.
That all changed as McDowell was the first runner across the line during the running of the Payette Open as the Falcon posted a season best time of 18 minutes, 26.90 seconds, well ahead of New Plymouth’s John Pounds in second place.
The Four Rivers team finished second in the team standings behind New Pilgrim in the scoring for the boys. The Vale team placed sixth in the team scores.
For the Vikings, sophomore Ethan Dotson picked up 29th as the top Vale runner.
The lone girl running for the Falcons, sophomore Maritza Benitez, finished ninth while Vale sophomore Gabby Sandoval was the top Viking after crossing the line in 13th.
Boys Results
Team Scores: 1. New Plymouth, 26. 2. Four Rivers, 71. 3. Melba, 71. 4. Vision Charter, 125. 5. Idaho City, 137. 6. Vale, 172.
Individual Results: 1. Oliver McDowall (Four Rivers), 18:26.90. 10. Elijah Grimaldo (Four Rivers), 20:44.57. 19. Alan Maxfield-Okuda (Four Rivers), 22:24.13. 22. Caleb Young (Four Rivers), 22:39.97. 23. Marcus Grimaldo (Four Rivers), 22:42.96. 29. Ethan Dotson (Vale), 23:45.82. 32. Avik Cacho (Four Rivers), 24:28.97. 42. Jayden Hansen (Vale), 26:56.22. 43. Shawn Manzo (Vale), 27:21.19. 45. Sean Hathaway (Vale), 28:37.32. 48. Wyatt Estes (Vale), 31:40.27. 50. Rhylan Williams (Vale), 32:19.03.
Girls Results
Individual Results: 9. Maritza Benitez (Four Rivers), 30:34.74. 13. Gabby Sandoval (Vale), 35:04.49. 20. Jasmine Vera-Antonio (Vale), 41:52.46.
