By Matt Phelps

The Mercer Island Cross Country teams participated in the first 3A KingCo preview meet Thursday at Redmond’s Marymoor Park.

Both teams showed potential and found out where they need to improve. The meet also showed that the Mercer Island boys are still in the top three of KingCo despite off-season changes.

Runner John O’Meara had a good showing. O’Meara took first place for the sophomore boys with a time of 10:19.

Islander Alex Huff placed second in the freshman race with a time of 10:46.22.

“He and Quin (Chasan) have a lot of potential,” said Mercer Island High School cross country coach Erica Hill. “They all looked good, though.”

Sam Chasan took third in the senior races with a time of 10:24, while younger family member Quin Chasan took third in the freshman races in the time of 10:46.51.

Islander Daniel Gronfein finished fifth in the seniors’ race with a time of 10:32; Martz Vanoppen was eighth for juniors with a time of 10:47.

The team’s strong finish came despite missing one of their best runners.

“We were missing (senior) Rory (Mcgee),” said Hill. “But he will be back and we will be even stronger.”

On the girls side, a continued rebuild from last year took a step forward with freshman Lauren Davies taking seventh for the freshmen with a time of 14:09 and Jessica Rogowsky placing eighth in a time of 14:16. Rachel Schneider finished tenth for Mercer Island in the freshmen race giving the Islanders good standing for the future of the program.

Ellis Bennett took seventh in the junior races, while Tanya Swarts finished ninth during the senior races with a time of 13:03. The girls did not have an athlete finish in the top ten for sophomores.

Cross country’s next meet will be at 3:45 p.m. at Wilburton park in Bellevue against Newport tomorrow.