Area Sports by Michael Dashiell

It's all part of the experience. Slowed by injuries, Sequim's Alli Cutting raced to a 21:51 finish on the 5,000-meter course at the Foot Locker West Regional cross country meet Dec. 13 in Walnut, Calif., good for 78th place overall out of 92 runners in the elite "seeded" girls race.

The Sequim High School junior said she was dealing an Achilles tendon injury and a knee injury before the race, and it slowed to a 6:51-per-mile pace.

The race is one of the premier prep meets on the West Coast.

"It was kind of a bummer," Cutting said. "It's hard; it's an injury (so) you can't do more training. It's definitely more motivation make it to (Foot Locker) nationals next year."

The defending Washington state 2A cross country champion said she will take the rest of the month off and slowly regain form for track & field next spring. Jordan Hasay, a senior out of Arroyo Grande, Calif., won the race in 18:02. Kingston's Ruby Roberts was 25th with a 19:30 finish.