Lyla Taylor of Hockinson, Jacob McManus of Columbia River victorious at Steven Maas Run-A-Ree

The first time Lyla Taylor competed in the Steven Maas Run-A-Ree she was in the eighth grade.

And she won.

“It was the highlight of my whole year,” she recalled.

Now she has another win to launch her cross country season as the Hockinson junior won the Run-A-Ree on Friday.

In conditions that were less than ideal — 93 degrees and poor air quality — Taylor completed the 5,000-meter course at Hudson’s Bay High School in 19 minutes, 37 seconds.

She was running out front the majority of the race and beat second-place Elise Herold, a Mark Morris sophomore, by 1:07.

“It was really, really hard,” Taylor said of race conditions. “I was hoping to break 20 minutes. I was out by myself, so I’m proud of the result.”

Columbia River senior Jacob McManus was also out by himself on the course as he ran away with the title in a time of 15:45. He won by 18 seconds over Lucas Satterlee of Mountainside (Beaverton, Ore.).

Always wanting more, The Columbian’s All-Region cross country runner of the year in 2023 said he was hoping to go 20 seconds faster.

“I am super happy and grateful for the win,” he said. “I’ll take today and tomorrow, I’ll keep running.”

McManus was especially happy for his teammates who set personal bests.

“This is a confidence booster for the entire team,” he said of the season going forward.

Taylor also said as much, gaining valuable experience from the opening race.

“I now know the other athletes and what to expect,” she said of the upcoming races.

Sophomore Sasha Pash of La Center finished fourth overall in 21:00.

Scappoose (Ore.) won the girls team title with 67 points, followed by Prairie (73). Mountainside and Hockinson were next with 80 points each.

The boys title went to Prairie with 80 points. The Falcons were led by senior Dekota Houfek in fifth place in 16:28. Tavin Timperley and Tommy Wise were seventh and eighth with the same time of 16:55.

Columbia River with 94 points was second, one point better than Mark Morris. The Rapids are ranked ninth in 2A in the initial Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

Senior Brody Will of race host Hudson’s Bay, placed fourth in 16:16.

The Run-A-Ree, in its 63rd year, is named for 1969 Hudson’s Bay grad and runner Steven Maas, a decorated Vietnam War pilot who died in a helicopter crash during military training exercises at Fort Hood, Texas, in 1973.

He is buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.

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GIRLS: 63RD STEVEN MAAS RUN-A-REE

At Hudson’s Bay HS; 5,000m

TEAM SCORES — 1, Scappoose (Ore.) 67; 2, Prairie 73; 3, Mountainside (Ore.) 80; 4, Hockinson 80; 5, Columbia River 110; 6, Stevenson 157; 7, Trinity Academy (Ore.) 158; 8, Mountain View 162.

RACE WINNER — Lyla Taylor (Hockinson) 19:37.

Local team top 5 results

PRAIRIE — 12, Zoe Jensen 21:31; 19, Jadyn Conn 22:30; 22, Chloe Copes 23:11; 26, Mia Hasselblad 23:28; 28, Delia Austin 23:33.

HOCKINSON — 1, Taylor 19:37; 8, Graysen Aldridge 21:22; 20, Scarlett Sanders 22:33; 37, Kaydie Boettcher 24:34; 58, Juliet Sanders 28:18.

COLUMBIA RIVER — 9, Mae Otoupal 21:25; 14, Ainsley Morrisey 22:04; 31, Savannah Reynolds 24:02; 53, Emery Seitz 26:37; 64, Theresa Nehnevaj 29:14.

STEVENSON — 11, Daisy Jones 21:28; 24, Ruby Langer 23:19; 61, Sarah Zeigenfuss 29:06; 70, Sofia Mendez-Hernandez 32:54; 72, Fionna Givens 35:23.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — 21, Aaliyah Willson 22:43; 51, Layla Cantonwine 26:17; 56, Kara Hagele 28:04; 63, Evey Erhart 29:13; 65, Sophia Strong 29:28.

HUDSON’S BAY — 16, Ava Peterson 22:12; 17, Kaylynn Wickwire 22:13; 33, Claire Marsh 24:15; 60, Shianne Kasinger 28:50.

LA CENTER — 4, Sasha Pash 21:00; 39, Kylee Adams 24:58; 44, Hannah Zylstra 25:32; 55, Bernice Mosbrucker 27:43.

MARK MORRIS — 2, Elsie Herold 20;30; 25, Audrey Varney 23:22.

SETON CATHOLIC — 30, Charlotte Hayward 24:01; 38, Remy Jenniges 34:37; 42, Addison Miller 25:22.

WASHOUGAL — 13, Gracie Perry 21:59; 34, Audrey Thomas 24:18; 40, Chloe Franco 25:02.

WOODLAND — 6, Elizabeth Neibler 21:19; 7, Elizabeth Osorio 21:21; 54, Emerald Baune 27:21; 73, Elizabeth Munoz-Venegas 36:00.

HERITAGE — 52, Dakotah Leach 26:32.

JV — 1, Prairie 35; 2, Mountainside 77; 3, Scappoose 78; 4, Columbia River 83; 6, Heritage 155. Individual winner: Aubrey Strang (Scappoose) 13:01 (3,000m).

BOYS: 63RD STEVEN MAAS RUN-A-REE

At Hudson’s Bay HS; 5,000m

TEAM SCORES — 1, Prairie 80; 2, Columbia River 94; 3, Mark Morris 95; 4, La Center 97; 5, Washougal 161. Also: 8, Hockinson 188; 9, Seton Catholic 241; 10, Hudson’s Bay 244; 11, Woodland 275.

RACE WINNER — Jacob McManus (Columbia River) 15:45.

Local team top 5 results

PRAIRIE — 5, Dekota Houfek 16:28; 7, Tavin Timperley 16:55; 8, Tommy Wise 16:55; 29, Shackleton Hoyt 18:11; 33, Ethan McKell 18:28.

COLUMBIA RIVER — 1, McManus 15:45; 10, Aaron Barron Pinto 17:04; 14, Michael Maley 17:31; 32, Owen Mulholland 18:20; 41, Evan Mulholland 18:52.

MARK MORRIS — 6, Tate Armstrong 16:45; 13, Isaiah Bradley 17:27; 17, Zane Armstrong 17:44; 28, Matthias White 18:10; 35, Braydon Sweetin 18:31.

LA CENTER — 11, Carter Sherry 17:09; 18, Lance Cole 17:47; 22, Brady Sypher 17:54; 24, Reynolds Cottle 17:59; 27, Sharp Young 18:09.

WASHOUGAL — 12, David Grice 17:11; 15, John Love 17:33; 38, Joshua Grice 18:40; 44, Bodie Ostenson 19:05; 61, Dempsey West 19:54.

HOCKINSON — 19, Liam DeViney 17:48; 26, Ian Guasco 18:02; 46, Houston Young 19:15; 50, Andrew McGettigan 19:26; 58, Skyler Picard 19:44.

SETON CATHOLIC — 20, Sam Soto 17:49; 36, Max Moran 18:35; 53, Easton Ross 19:35; 66, Tynan Young-Byle 20:25; 86, Brennen Richardson 22:04.

HUDSON’S BAY — 4, Brody Will 16:16; 31, Sylas Allen 18:18; 69, Sloan Casanova 20:59; 80, Isaiah Salas 21:38; 82, Jordin Martinez-Kearney 21:50.

WOODLAND — 16, Alejandro Alvarado 17:41; 37, Logan Speranza 18:39; 71, Bryce Curnutt 21:01; 81, Timothy Smith 21:38; 109, Eric Gervacio-Mendoza 26:19.

HERITAGE — 9, Devyn Thomas 16:59; 99, Ryan Perez 23:17.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — 94, Andrew Sundahl 22:52; 102, Marcos Pizano 23:48; 105, Keaton Crandall 25:40; 108, Noah Schutt 26:16.

STEVENSON — 93, Brayden Hays 22:39; 101, Elijah Stradley 23:43; 106, Mandal Nichols 25:47; 110, Simion Wilkerson 27:14.

JV — 1, Columbia River 15; 2, Scappoose 82; 3, Paideia Classical Christian (Ore.) 88. Also: 4, Prairie 105; 6, Hudson’s Bay 145; 7, Woodland 159. Individual winner: Liam Menendez (Columbia River) 18:53.