Marissa Hielkema led the way for the Lynden Christian girls' cross country team as it finished second to Burlington-Edison in a three-team Northwest Conference meet on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at Berthusen Park in Lynden.

"Burlington has a strong team and they took off strong and had their top five girls finish in the top six," Lynden Christian coach Darren Postma said in a phone interview. "Their top girl, Raynjoy (Norton), took off and ran all by herself and wasn't threatened by anyone the entire race."

Norton from Burlington-Edison finished with a time of 20 minutes, 4 seconds, followed by the Lyncs' Hielkema with a time of 20:53.

Burlington-Edison scored 19 points, Lynden Christian had 40 and Lynden did not score as it did not have enough runners.

"Marissa ran a good race," Postma said. "She was nice and conservative with the Mount Baker Invite coming up. She moved up steady the whole race and passed a girl down the stretch to finishe second."

Grace Sauter was the top Lions runner with a time of 22:20.

Berthusen Park

5,000 meters

Team scores: 1. Burlington-Edison 19; 2. Lynden Christian 40; 3. Lynden N/A

Top individual finishers: 1. Raynjoy Norton (Burlington-Edison) 20:04; 2. Marissa Hielkema (Lynden Christian) 20:53; 3. Olivia Capron (Burlington-Edison) 20:55

Burlington-Edison: Raynjoy Norton 20:04; Olivia Capron 20:55; Sydney Brown 21:24; Ciera Gordon 21:32; Christina Sosa 21:35; Katie Studebaker 22:45; Amelia Brown 24:37.

Lynden Christian: Marissa Hielkema 20:53; Julia Morris 22:59; McKenzie Young 23:13; Sarah Ball 23:15; Ally visser 23:27; Brianna Rutgers 24:18; Brianna De Boer 26:07.

Lynden: Grace Sauter 22:20; Kendra Hack 24:15; Michelle Navis 25:26; Katherine Smith 27:54.