Matthew Melancon, a junior from Sheldon High School in Eugene, patiently picked his way through a sloppy rainy course at Fernhill Park in NE Portland to win the Concordia/Puma Cross Country Classic on October 17. (Photo at right courtesy of Stephen Klotz, YouthRunner.)“Matthew’s been running pretty good this year,” says his father, Randy Melancon, a former standout distance runner for John McDonnell’s Arkansas Razorbacks. Randy was ranked as high as #4 in the U.S. 5K by Track & Field News in 1977.
Matthew was running in 15th place after the first mile and broke it open with about 300 metres left, passing early race leader Cole Watson of Rogue River. Not known for his kick, Matthew outsprinted Crater senior Josh Elliott (15:43.3)
Drew Jordan of North Medford was third. Henry Jackson of Everett, WA, won the men's elite varsity team title with 38 points, placing five scoring runners in the top 16 overall. Crater High School was second with 61 points and Central Catholic was third with 79 points.
In the girl’s race, Annamarie Maag took the lead early in the race and moved away steadily for the win in 17:51.6. Teammates Payton Schutte (18:14.8) and Adrienne Demaree (18:35.3) placed second and third. Jesuit won the race with 21 points. Summit of Bend was second (95) and South Eugene (111) was third.
Full results can be found here.