As cross country runners from Blaine, Lynden Christian and Nooksack Valley high schools ran through Peace Arch Park for a meet recently, they found themselves in a foreign country for a short time — something that’s pretty unusual for a cross country meet.
Claire Wenger, a sophomore on Blaine’s team who is currently sidelined by a knee injury, hoisted a “Welcome to America!!!” sign adorned with the Stars and Stripes as the runners galloped back into the U.S. from Canada.
The Sept. 16 meet was Blaine High School cross country’s only home meet of the season. The 5K course featured three laps around the park. Each lap had the runners pass the Peace Arch into Canada, before looping back into the U.S.
Wenger said that the team wanted to make the meet special for all the runners. She hoped that greeting them at the border would make it memorable.
She shouted "Welcome back to America,” to every runner that passed. She also offered motivation to runners from all three high schools.
“I like to cheer, it’s fun,” she said simply. “When I have people cheering for me, it’s encouraging.”
She wanted her Blaine teammates to succeed most of all, of course, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t encourage opponents too, she said.
Wenger would much rather be competing, but she feels like being there to support her teammates helps her stay close with them — if she’s able to return from her injury later this season, she wants her teammates to feel like she’s been there with them the whole way, she said.
“To still be involved with the team, it’s still a good bonding experience,” she said.
The team’s chemistry is something that stands out to Wenger. She credited head coach Roberto Aguilera Jr. for creating such a positive environment.
“There’s a very good connection on the team. We’re all good friends and we’re all close,” she said. “I don’t know how to describe it.”
Aguilera said he’s seen his team nearly triple in size since he took over as the cross country head coach in 2023. The team has 28 runners this year.
Aguilera said he was happy to see his team competing so hard at the meet. The other schools’ athletes enjoyed the course’s layout at Peace Arch Park.
“The meet went well. It was great.” he said. “They loved how the setup was… just running to Canada and out of Canada. What course can you really think about anywhere in the nation that does that?”
Aguilera highlighted junior Carrie Balback, who finished third out of 18 girls with a time of 22 minutes and 23 seconds.
He said Balback has put in a lot of hard work since she joined the team last year.
“She joined us her sophomore year and fell in love with the sport tremendously, and learned day in and day out about things she should do to be a better runner,” Aguilera said.
Also for the girls team, sophomore Natalia Holguin (27 minutes, 30 seconds) finished in 12th place.
For the boys’ team, junior Emmanuel Rios-Martinez (17:44), freshman Wesley Balback (18:24) and senior Steven Phelps-McDonald (18:30) placed second, third and fourth respectively out of 24 runners.
The Blaine cross country team traveled to Anacortes for a meet on Wednesday evening. The team’s next meet will be in Sultan on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 11:45 a.m.
