Oregon athletes gathered in Eugene for the 73rd annual OSAA State Meet. The weather held out until the last two races and thankfully the course held up. Here are the highlights from Saturday:
3A/2A/1A Girls
The national anthem was sung by Enterprise's Maddie Nordtvedt at 9:45 and then Maddie lined up at 10:00 and finished as the fifth girl on her state championship team. Enterprise took home the title with 63 points and Oregon Episcopal finished second with 84 points and Siuslaw third with 95 points. Daisy Lalonde of East Linn, Lauren Tittel of Oregon Episcopal and Jaya Simmons of Valley Catholic took the lead at the one mile mark. At the two-mile mark Lalonde had an eight second cushion and won comfortably for the 5000 meter course at 18:43.7. Lalonde improved on her third place finish from the previous year.
2A/1A Boys
Heppner duo of Trevor Nichols and Grady Greenwood finished 1-2 in the 2A-1A boys. At the one mile mark the Heppner boys were joined by Isaiah Rodriguez of Knappa, Alex McIntyre of Weston-McEwen and Eli Williams of Union. At the 2-mile mark the group stayed essentially the same and Trevor Nichols of Heppner pulled away for the win in 16:10.0. Nichols finished third last year in the same race. The team race was close with Knappa winning with a score of 53 points and edging Union with 55 points. Heppner took third with 90 points.
3A Boys
Siuslaw is a state power and won the 4A division last November. Now the Vikings compete in the 3A division. One of their 4A rivals, Valley Catholic, also moved to 3A which added to the intrigue. Ultimately, Siuslaw prevailed with the title at 52 points and Valley Catholic finishing second with 75 points. The third place team Santiam Catholic had the individual champion Benjamin Bourne. Wyatt Montgomery of La Pine had a seven second lead over Bourne and Olin Gilster of Oregon Episcopal at the two-mile mark. Eventually Benjamin Bourne took over the lead and won in 15:57.2. Bourne finished sixth last year in the 3A meet.
Photos from the 3A/2A/1A races - Click HERE
4A Girls
With the defending 4A champion Siuslaw now in the 3A/2A/1A division, a new team was vying for the 4A title. Cecilia Villagomez, Emily Tubbs and Brooke Perry of LaGrande were in the top pack at the one mile mark and finished 2-3-4 to lead LaGrande to a team victory of 62 points and Philomath took second with 84 points. Kyla Potratz of Phoenix finished third last year in the 4A race was in a tough battle with the LaGrande trio and at the two-mile mark raced with Emily Tubbs of LaGrande. Potratz finished first on the Lane Community College track in 18:47.5
4A Boys
Alexander Garcia-Silver opened eyes this fall by winning the Steve Prefontaine Memorial Run in 14:45.1 and then next week beating out a field of west coast runners at Nike Portland XC. Garcia-Silver also won this race last year and repeated by winning in a time of 15:22.2. It is Marshfield's first back to back champion since Steve Prefontaine. Juan Diego Contreras of The Dalles stayed with Garcia-Silver for the first part of the race. Contreras did help his team to a title with 57 points with Philomath a close second with 60 points.
Photos from the 4A - Click HERE
5A Girls
Summit girls came into the meet with a staggering 13 consecutive state title streak. The last three championships Summit ran in the 6A and won those titles too. As expected Summit won easily with 36 points, Crater second with 70 points and Crescent Valley third with 98 points. Speaking of Crescent Valley, Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley attempted to defend her title from last year. Wisniewski took the lead at the one mile mark and did not look back for the win in 17:58.6.
5A Boys
Crater came into the meet as the overwhelming favorite as they ran well in Southern California at Woodbridge back in September and had a DyeStat #7 national ranking coming into Saturday. The Comets of Crater did not disappoint by placing their five runners in the top 10 and coming away champions of 5A with 30 points. Wilsonville finished second with 90 points and Summit boys third with 119 points. Tyrone Gorze won the loaded Woodbridge Invitational in September and dominated the 5A race by running 14:37.9 and setting the meet record.
Photos from the 5A races - Click HERE
6A Girls
There is nothing like a close finish. In the 6A girls race, Ana Peters of Lake Oswego, Ella McGillis of Central Catholic and Maura O'Scannlain of Jesuit entered the track at Lane Community College for the big finish. Ana Peters came through for the win in 17:56.8. Ana kept the title in the family as her sister Kate won 6A last year. Jesuit was the pre-meet favorite and they delivered with a win at 40 points. Lincoln girls finished second with 98 points.
6A Boys
The boy's race had over a dozen athletes come by the one mile mark and the winner was not settled at the two-mile mark with a half dozen athletes in the mix. The last mile can be unforgiving with the bark dust trail and competitive field. Jacob Nenow of Jesuit ultimately proved to have championship mettle with his 15:06.3 win. Samy Anderson of Lincoln finished second with a time of 15:15.5. Jesuit boys placed four athletes in the top 10 for the team win with 33 points. Oregon has two strong teams, Crater and Jesuit, who will be strong representatives at NXR Boise on Saturday. Lincoln finished with 84 points. This summer we visited West Salem's practice and their goal was to get a trophy. A Salem area school had not been up at the podium for large schools since South Salem made the podium in 1975 finishing fourth. West Salem took home the third place trophy with 98 points.
Photos from the 6A races - Click HERE