Aberdeen runners sweep season-opening races

Gumaelius, Haggard win varsity runs at Elma XC Relays

By Ryan Sparks • September 7, 2025 11:00 pm
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Ryker Maxfield (577), Elma’s Frank Roberts and Aberdeen’s Cecil Gumaelius (536) lead the field at the beginning of the boys varsity race of the Elma XC Relays on Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam’s Ryker Maxfield (577), Elma’s Frank Roberts and Aberdeen’s Cecil Gumaelius (536) lead the field at the beginning of the boys varsity race of the Elma XC Relays on Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

Aberdeen’s Ailyn Haggard and Cecil Gumaelius won their respective varsity races at the Elma XC Relays, the first official event of the prep cross country season held Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

Haggard, a junior, won the girls race by more than one minute, completing the 2,500-meter course with a time of 9:09.

“I was hoping to break nine, but it’s definitely hard just chasing a golf cart,” quipped Haggard, who was running at Oaksridge for the first time in her prep career. “It’s definitely flat and fast. I like it. It’s very smooth. Running on a nice, flat course is definitely different. You don’t get that very often. You don’t have to worry about rolling your ankle or stepping on roots.”

Now in her third season as being a top distance runner in an area that has produced multiple girls state-champions recently, Haggard showed a high race IQ in terms of how she approached the early-season race.

“Being a junior and being used to winning now, it’s me against the clock,” she said. “That’s all I think about.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Ailyn Haggard cruised to victory in the girls varsity race of the Elma XC Relays on Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Ailyn Haggard cruised to victory in the girls varsity race of the Elma XC Relays on Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

Elma sophomore Braelyn McGinn placed second with a time of 10:10 while Mossyrock’s Joan Wedam (10:48), Aberdeen’s Serenity Allread (11:05) and Elma’s Des Whipple (11:16) placed third through fifth, respectively.

The boys race featured three of the top distance runners in the district in Gumaelius, Hoquiam junior Ryker Maxfield and Elma junior Frank Roberts. The trio led the field until Gumaelius broke away for the victory.

Gumaelius finished with a time of 7:27 with Maxfield placing second at 7:41 and Roberts fourth at 7:55.

The win was a confidence-booster for Gumaelius, who had not placed ahead of Maxfield and Roberts in any race last season.

“I wanted to get close to a five-minute average pace and I wanted to be close to those two other guys, Ryker and Frank,” Gumaelius said. “That’s the first time I’ve beat them. It just felt great.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Cecil Gumaelius leads down the home stretch of the boys varsity race at the Elma XC Relays on Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Cecil Gumaelius leads down the home stretch of the boys varsity race at the Elma XC Relays on Saturday at Oaksridge Golf Course in Elma.

Aberdeen’s boys won the team competition with a score of 25 to Elma’s 30 points.

“I think they did great,” Gumaelius said of his team. “I feel like the rest of the team did really good for us.”

The Bobcats girls also placed first, winning with a score of 22 to 33 points for Elma.

“I’m excited. It’s always nice to start out with a win, especially when we get a team win,” Aberdeen head coach Steve Reed said before turning his attention to Haggard and Gumaelius’ performances. “Both of them ran most of this summer and won their races. … They did a lot of training this summer and it looks like it really paid off.”

Full results available at athletic.net.

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Results

Boys 2,500 meter varsity

1, Cecil Gumaelius, Aberdeen, 7:27. 2, Ryker Maxfield, Hoquiam, 7:41. 3, Frank Roberts, Elma, 7:55. 4, Junior Soto, Hoquiam, 8:17. 5, Toby Nelson, Aberdeen, 8:30. 6, Oliver Cech, Aberdeen, 8:36. 7, Ashton Brown, Elma, 8:45. 8, Civil Smith, Elma, 9:12. 9, Merritt Steele, Aberdeen, 9:18. 10, Carter Arnold, Elma, 9:22. 11, Nickolas Thompson, Elma, 9:28. 12, Cooper Gill, Aberdeen, 9:31. 13, Jackson Cihak, Aberdeen, 9:44. 14, Greg Wedam, Mossyrock, 9:45. 15, Rylon Wilson, Aberdeen, 9:58. 16, Taylor Lund, Elma, 10:12. 17, Pepper Holcomb, Elma, 10:14. 18, Joey Goodenough, Hoquiam, 10:14.30. 19, Johnathon Marriott, Elma, 10:15. 20, Nathan Beauregard, Elma, 10:19. 21, Kaiden Avery, Elma, 10:21. 22, Jaxon Eilers, Aberdeen, 10:23. 23, Braxton Gozart, Aberdeen, 10:37. 24, Raylan Larcom, Aberdeen, 10:40. 25, Fredy Martinez Ramirez, Elma, 10:42. 26, Zac Werdahl, Elma, 11:23. 27, Lapeace Reynolds, Aberdeen, 11:46. 28, Hunter Hall, Elma, 12:08. 29, Fernando Salazar, Aberdeen, 12:47. 30, Roman Hanson, Elma, 12:53. 31, Jackson Ahlfs, Elma, 13:59. 32, Dryden Quinton, Hoquiam, 14:43.

Girls 2,500 meter varsity

1, Ailyn Haggard, Aberdeen, 9:09. 2, Braelyn McGinn, Elma, 10:10. 3, Joan Wedam, Mossyrock, 10:48. 4, Serenity Allread, Aberdeen, 11:05. 5, Des Whipple, Elma, 11:16. 6, Natali Rojas, Aberdeen, 11:20. 7, Ashley Galeana-Lopez, Aberdeen, 11:22. 8, Hannah Schlesser, Hoquiam, 11:36. 9, Sveva Totaro, Aberdeen, 12:26. 10, Jordan Trudell, Elma, 12:44. 11, Chelsey VanBlargan, Elma, 12:47. 12, Alicia Horton, Elma, 12:59.40. 13, Anarely Ramirez, Mossyrock, 12:59.60. 14, Alice Wedam, Mossyrock, 13:34. 15, Aldeen Olvera-Obi, Hoquiam, 13:58. 16, Taylor Hatton, 14:37. 17, Payton Nagle, Aberdeen, 15:08. 18, Lindzey Whitney, Elma, 15:52. 19, Quinn Nesmith, Elma, 16:30.