LANGLEY — The South Whidbey Invitational was a first 5k for half of the M-P varsity roster.

Not hobbled by inexperience, the girls placed fifth out of 15 teams in the slower Division II varsity race Sept. 19. The meet was also a first look for many of the Tomahawks at the Oct. 31 district course that will send Western Conference runners and teams to the state meet in Pasco.

Stepping into her role as captain of the girls team, junior Veronica Hall led the Tomahawk girls with a 12th-place finish and time of 21:09.90. Freshman Rachel Lefstad also finished among the top 20, coming in 18th in a time of 21:33.99. Senior Marissa Carter was 31st in a time of 22:12.49, while M-P’s next three girls — Alissa Belan, Riley Wolfington and Ashlynn Woodward — all came in under 24 minutes.

The boys took the challenge of the faster Division I varsity race. They finished last out of 18 teams, but at a pace that would have been good for third in the Division II contest that included fellow Wesco schools Arlington, Edmonds-Woodway and Cascade. Seniors Josh Rasmussen, Eduardo Carranza and Stevie Utt finished within seconds of one another, with Rasmussen leading in 74th place and a time of 17:53.33.

Sophomore rookies Cannon Counsellor, Erik Kundu and Alan Nielsen also competed in the varsity contest for Marysville, turning in times of 18:24.84, 19:05.51 and 19:17.37 respectively.