Siuslaw freshman Murray Bingham won his first brownie Thursday, and hopes that fuels a top finish in next week's Far West League district cross country championships at William M. Tugman State Park.

Bingham clocked the only sub-10-minute time in the annual Run for the Brownies at Sandpines Golf Links, finishing the annual 3,000-meter event in 9 minutes, 53.39 seconds.

"I'm getting a little better every week," Bingham said. "It was pretty fast on the flats, and I like that, and I like the hills going up and down."

Next week Bingham is hoping for his first 5,000-meter run with a 16-minute handle, along with a team title that would launch the Vikings into the state 4A cross country championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Lane Community College in Eugene.

His coach, Chris Johnson, thinks it's possible.

"Murray looked great," Johnson said. "If our boys finish that close to Murray, we're going to be a solid team and have a chance to win the league."

Siuslaw boys took five of the top six places, with Isaac Griffes third in 10:14.59, Tyler Williams fourth in 10:14.96, Kyle King fifth in 10:16.80 and Jack Pickell sixth in 10:38.16.

Coquille's Zach Lathram was second in 10:09.60.

Siuslaw junior Celie Mans was the first girl and seventh overall in 10:41.68.

"I like running with the guys, because they push me," Mans said. "I'm feeling good, and I'm really excited to see what district brings.

"I wanted to be top 10 today and I wanted to beat my time from last year and I did."

Murray's sister, Morgan, was the second-fastest girl and 17th overall in 11:29.21. Coquille's Josey Kaufman was third among the girls and Siuslaw's Destinie Tatum was fourth.

"Destinie has made a huge leap this year," Johnson said. "That's because she's worked really hard.

"It's not a secret. If you work really hard in this sport, good things happen."

Just ask Murray Bingham, if he can speak through a mouth full of brownies.

NOTES:

• Siuslaw eighth-grader Zimri Ramos won the middle-school race. "I really like this more than any other run," he said. "It was perfect weather, too. I felt great." ...
• Retired Myrtle Point coach Pat Towne was organizing his 20th Run for the Brownies. "I wanted to see a shorter race that's way less intense," he said. "I think for runners that a really intense race this week is a mistake with district coming up next week." ...
• Siuslaw coach Chris Johnson couldn't thank Sandpines Golf Links ownership enough. "When I moved to Florence, my goal was to have a meet out here, and they weren't friendly about it," he said. "The last two owners have been excited about having us out here. We love it." ...
• In official team scoring, the Siuslaw boys had 15 points to beat Toledo with 60 and Myrtle Point with 66, while Siuslaw's girls beat Myrtle Point 15-60.