This Weekend in Cross Country - November 5
California competes in their league meets this week. Next week begins the qualifying CIF meets that feed into the California State Meet. Oregon and Washington complete their regular seasons on Saturday at their respective state meets.
OSAA Cross Country State Championship - November 5
Lane Community College - Eugene, OR
3A/2A/1A Girls
The first race on the docket at Lane Community College is the combined 3A/2A/1A girls championship race. The top teams in 3A/2A/1A race are Enterprise, Oregon Episcopal, Union, Burns and Siuslaw. The individual battle could be between Daisy Lalonde of East Linn Christian and Jaya Simmons of Valley Catholic. Sydney White of Burns, Saniyah Ayala of St. Mary's and Lauren Tittel of Oregon Episcopal are other individuals to watch.
2A/1A Boys
The first boy's race of the day is the 2A/1A that will showcase a battle between Knappa and Union. Heppner and Bandon can also challenge in the race. Top athletes who may get to the Lane Community College track first include Isaiah Rodriguez of Knappa, Taylor Fox and Eli Williams of Union, Trevor Nichols and Grady Greenwood of Heppner.
3A Boys
It is going a title battle of evenly matched schools of Siuslaw, Valley Catholic, Sisters and Santiam Christian. Top athletes battling for the individual 3A title are Olin Gilster of Oregon Episcopal, Benjamin Bourne of Santiam Christian, Wyatt Montgomery of La Pine, Trevor Stewart of Vale and Morgan Amano of Valley Catholic.
4A Girls
The two top teams in 4A girls are Philomath and LaGrande. Some teams vying to get on the top four podium include Junction City, Crook County, Klamath Union and Stayton. Emily Tubbs and Cecilia Villagomez of LaGrande, Anika Jenson of Molalla, Adele Beckstead of Philomath and Kyla Potratz of Phoenix are the top individuals.
4A Boys
Philomath and The Dalles boys are top teams challenging for the 4A title with Marist and Crook County hoping to get to the podium. Alexander Garcia-Silver of Marshfield should cap off an outstanding fall season with the individual win in the 4A race. Juan Diego Contreras and Leo Lemann of The Dalles, Mateo Candanoza of Philomath and Grant Bohannon of Hidden Valley are other top individuals in 4A.
5A Girls
Summit girls won ten consecutive 5A cross country state titles and then moved up to 6A and won three more titles. This Saturday, Summit girls will try to win their 14th consecutive state title as they have moved back into the 5A division. They should win the title comfortably and now it is to see who will finish second with Crescent Valley, Crater and Corvallis as contenders. Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley is the favorite to repeat as 5A champion. The Summit duo of Ella Thorsett and Barrett Justema will also be in the race to challenge. Emily's teammate Lillian Weiss, a freshman from Crescent Valley, is another contender as well as Lindsay Siebert of Crater.
5A Boys
Crater boys come into Saturday's meet ranked #7 in a recent DyeStat team ranking and should easily take the 5A title. Wilsonville, Summit, Hood River Valley and South Albany are some of the teams looking to get on the top four podium. Tyrone Gorze of Crater is the favorite to repeat as 5A champion and there are some challengers with Logan Law of Milwaukie, Carter Cutting of Wilsonville, Kanoa Blake of Crescent Valley and Tyrone's teammate Josiah Tostenson.
6A Girls
Jesuit girls look to be the favorite in the 6A girls race. One of Jesuit's top runners, sophomore Emma Bennett, ran her first race of the season last week. Emma finished fifth at last year's 6A championship. The fight for second might be more interesting with Sunset and Lincoln fighting for that spot. Who might take the fourth and final spot on the podium? Contenders include Franklin, West Salem, South Eugene and Lakeridge. Maura O'Scannlain of Jesuit is the favorite in the 6A race, but there are other contenders in the race including Keira Saavedra of Lincoln, Josie Fale of Ida B Wells, Ana Peters of Lake Oswego and Ella McGillis of Central Catholic.
6A Boys
The last race of the day is the 6A boys. Jesuit boys are the favorites after sweeping the competitive Metro League with the rare 15 point score. Other contenders include Lincoln, Franklin and West Salem which could be the first Salem school district to make the top four podium in over forty years. Central Catholic is always a contender. Individual boy's champion could come down to Jack Meier and Brady Bliven of West Salem, Jacob Nenow, Gus Clevenger and Caden Swanson of Jesuit, Wes Shipsey of Central Catholic and Samy Anderson of Lincoln.
Look for a photo gallery of the Oregon State Meet!
Washington State Meet - November 5
Sun Willows Golf Course - Pasco, WA
1B/2B Girls
The girls open the state meet at 10:00am with 1B/2B race. The top two teams vying for the state title will be between Pope John Paul 2, St George's, Garfield-Palouse and Rainier. Pope John Paul 2 is looking for its third title in a row. Top athletes in this division include Josie McLaughlin of St. George, Catelin King of Pope John Paul 2, Madison Ingram of NW Christian (Lacey).
1A Girls
Looks to be a tight team competition in the 1A race with Overlake, Lakeside (Nine Mile), Naches Valley, and Port Townsend (East Jefferson). Individually Alexis Leone of Seton Catholic looks to repeat as 1A champion. Aliyah Yearian of Port Townsend did not race last Saturday and is nursing an injury. She is listed as one of the participants to race on Saturday. Sadie Meyring of Lakeside (Nine Mile), Logan Ignacio of Meridian and Diana Camargo of Wapato are other strong individual contenders.
2A Girls
The race for the team title could come down to Anacortes and Sehome with Ellensburg, Bellingham, Columbia River and Washougal battling for third. Jessica Frydenlund of Anacortes and Logan Hofstee of East Valley (Spokane) are the two top individuals in the 2A race. Sydnee Boothby of Washougal, Zaya Smith of Bellingham and Elle Thomas also of Washougal will be in the top pack.
1B/2B Boys
The boys race on the Sun Willows course next with the 1B/2B boys and the two favorites are John Paul 2 and Chewelah. Top individuals include Cole Foster of Chewelah, Ciaran St. Hilaire of Tri-Cities Prep and Christian Paz Tapia of Mossyrock.
1A Boys
A competitive 1A race is in store for Saturday with Seton Catholic, Bush, Cedar Park Christian and Lakeside (Nine Mile). Lakeside will be trying to win their fourth consecutive title. Individually Reid Headrick of Medical Lake, Joseph Blanshan of Seton Catholic, Andrew Luce of Lynden Christian, Stephen Bleakley-Harris of Northwest and Barrett Poulsen of Freeman are strong candidates to win the state title.
2A Boys
The 2A boy's title should come down to three teams: Squalicum, Sehome and Bellingham. Sehome is the perennial power in 2A, but Squalicum and Bellingham will be factors. Zack Munson should also win the 2A individual title, but Jack Gladfelter of Port Angeles, Samuel Grice of Washougal, Eric Swedin of Selah and John Hoffer of Tumwater will try to push Zack for the title.
3A Girls
The two favorites Central Kitsap and Gig Harbor battled at Chambers Bay last Saturday and continue their rivalry on Saturday. Bishop Blanchet and Stadium enters the Sun Willows course as other strong teams. The individual battle for the 3A title includes a deep field with Katelyn Galloway of Stadium, Lily LaPorte of Bishop Blanchet, Tali Braester of Lincoln (Seattle), Charlotte Pedersen of Mt. Spokane and Elektra Higgins of Peninsula being athletes to watch.
3A Boys
On paper Seattle Prep and Mt Spokane look to be the favorites, but Bishop Blanchet has been missing their top athletes for most of the season and are now back and ready to race on Saturday. Cruize Corvin of Lakes dominated last Saturday's Westside Classic and is one of the favorites in a deep field. Brody Hartley of Walla Walla, Blake Reynolds of Central Kitsap, Micah Galeana of Gig Harbor and Luke Schmidt of Shorecrest are other favorites. Can Bishop Blanchet's runners be a factor individually? We will see on Saturday.
4A Girls
In the girls 4A it is another competitive race between Issaquah, Tahoma, Mt. Si and Eastlake. It is hard to pick a favorite. We did watch Tahoma race on Saturday and came away impressed with their depth. Anna Callahan of Skyline is having a dream season and is the favorite for Saturday. Her teammate Rebecca O'Keefe will also be a factor and so will Katherine Yahn of Issaquah, Lauren Hoyt of Bothel and Alison Whalen of Bellarmine Prep.
4A Boys
The last race of the day should have Eastlake crowned as the champion. With their top four under 16 minutes, they will be hard to beat. Still, anything can happen at the State Meet and Issaquah can give Eastlake some trouble. Tahoma, Lewis and Clark, Camas and West Valley are other strong teams. Ethan Pedersen of Eastlake is one of the top runners in 4A and Isaac Briggs of Rogers (Puyallup) pulled away from Conner Wirth of Emerald Ridge last week at Chambers Bay. Noah Zahn of Eastlake and Ezra Teeples of Kamiakan are other contenders.
Look for a photo gallery of the Washington State Meet!