“Bruce Hymas, Joe Candelario, and Braden Giswold set the pace in a home meet earlier this year. The three ran solid races Thursday to lead the Falcon boys to a team win.Thinking that his boys cross country team was exhausted from a hard week of pre-conference training, coach Tim Gordon could not be anything but surprised when he watched the Falcons run one of the fastest meets in South Whidbey history Thursday.On a flat, 3.04-mile course at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, senior Braden Giswold ran the fastest cross country race by any Falcon ever. His time of 15:18 won him the day’s seniors-only race at the North County Invitational and was just one of three sub16-minute performances. That’s the fastest race any one at South Whidbey has ever had, Gordon said.Brett Perkins was second in the race in 15:42, and Bruce Hymas was third in 15:51. The three paced their team to a 15-point, winning team score at the 10-team meet, a meet their coach did not expect them to win, especially against powers like 4A Marysville-Pilchuck.I had them training through it, Gordon said. In the juniors-only race, Joe Candelario figured into the scoring, running to 13th in 17:17. One step down into the sophomore race, Tim Gordon saw the core of his team in action. Four runners — Brandon Bilyeu, Jasper Hein, Andy Wills, and Brandon Turner — all finished within one minute of each another, lead by Bilyeu in 16:46. The fastest freshman Falcon Thursday was not far behind. James Sundquist finished fourth in the freshman race in 17:24.The girls cross country team also showed that they are ready for big things starting with Friday’s North Cascades Conference championships. With senior Sarah DeGraaf out with an injury, the Falcons placed third behind Marysville and Stanwood with 28 points. Senior Lisa Depender led the team with an 18:59, second-place performance behind MP’s Camille Conelly in the senior race. Depender had her biggest breakthrough of the year in the race, shedding 14 seconds from her previous best. Scoring in the junior race were Karen Schwager and Kirsten Smethurst, who placed sixth and ninth. Alone in the sophomore race, Julie Gabelein was the second-fastest Falcon of the day, placing third in 20:03. Her race was a full 20 seconds faster than her performance last year.Rounding out the scoring were the freshmen. Courtney Hatt was eighth in her class race in 21:12, followed by Callie Supsinskas in 21:52.The Falcons race Friday, Oct. 20 at the NCC championship race at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon. Racing starts at 3:40 p.m. for the girls and at 4:15 for the boys. “