O’Dea Cross Country Finishes 2nd In First League Meet

SEATTLE – The O’Dea cross country team showed out in their first meet at the Lower Woodland course in 3 years. The Irish finished 2nd in the four team meet which involved other private schools, Bishop Blanchet, Lakeside, and Bellarmine Prep.

This performance turned many heads considering the Irish had 5 of the 7 varsity starters graduate last year which were key losses for the team.

The Blanchet Bears came in first place which wasn’t a shocker at all considering they were ranked 1st in the state coming into the race. The Bears had 6 of the top 7 runners at the race’s finish, ending with a score of 17 (a perfect score is 10 for reference). What makes this feat even more impressive is they did this without their best runner senior Will Schneider who is known for being arguably the best runner in the state and one of the best in the country. With Blanchet dominating the race, this doesn’t distract from the fact the Irish had a great race themselves.

Junior Simon Olech came in first for the Irish setting a new personal record for the Irish by almost a minute. As impressive and a good sign for the Irish as that is, it’s even better considering he did it on Lower Woodland, which is one of the hardest courses in the entire state due to its hills and rough terrain. Following Olech came sophomore Ryan Berta, freshman Maddox Fox, and junior Noah Gauyan who all had times under 19 minutes.

The Irish’s next meet comes this Thursday at Lower Woodland against other Metro League schools which are still to be determined. Roll Irish!