Ideal weather with clear skies, no real humidity, pleasant evening temperatures plus no hint of wind presented runners with all but ideal conditions and the runners took care of the rest, as the first official meet in Oregon this season saw record times. Jackson Baker of Franklin looked extremely smooth and fluid , when he blazed to a new course record of 8:58. His mark eclipsed the record of his former team mate Ian Burgess from 2010 and given that Ian went on to a state title in the 5A division it bodes well for the coming season. Justin Rocerto of Southridge chased him home in a solid 9:01, which was only a second off the course record. Central Catholic super sophomore Kyle Thomspon claimed third in 19:08, which is a brilliant time for a member of that class. Julian Henniger of Lakeridge, but a junior, followed in fourth with a time of 9:09, which was also credited to Fletcher Hazlehurst of Franklin.
Claire DeVoe of Lincoln left the stadium early in the race in second place but, when she returned, she was in command to win by eleven seconds over Silverton’s Morgan Anderson. DeVoe’s time of 10:33 tied the course record of Alexandra Jones of St. Mary’s Academy. Kelly O’ Neill, who ran in last weekend’s Portland to Coast race, placed third in 11:01 and finished by herself. Taryn Rawlings of host Wilsonville started slowly by leaving the stadium after a little less than 800 meters and roared home in fourth with a time of 11:16. Lily Mayko of Southridge claimed fifth in 11:21. Lincoln’s Tess Michaelson & Becca Pearson placed sixth and seventh, while their team mates Maya Lewinsohn & Maya Roberts added 11th & 12th place finishes for a solid team showing.
The senior races saw Grant’s Andre Walker & St. Mary’s Nora Helfand triumph. Walker’s race was probably the most hotly contested as he and Connor Garcia of Valley Catholic came on the track together. Garcia took the lead and then Walker pulled ahead only to se Garcia come back again off the final turn towards home. In the end Walker earned the victory with a time of 9:25 to top Garcia by a second. Nathan Brown of Sunset earned third with 9:31. Helfand won her race with an 11:18 clocking to best Kellen Friedrich of South Salem. Bella Garzola of SMA took third with 11:27.
Jordan Lindstrom of Central Catholic won the boys’ junior race convincingly with a 9:37 clocking. Following in his wake was Jackson Packham of Franklin (9:42) plus Pke Benthin of Molalla, who ran 9:44. Karen Qu of Sunset led the Junior Girls with 11:15, while Amanda Stowe of Aloha ran 11:27 for second. Sunset & Aloha runners continued the trend as Sarah Fahmy (11:31) garnered third & Desyre Blackburn (11:35) followed suite.
Cooper Roach of Valley Catholic came home in 9:44 – two seconds ahead of Logan Veasy of La Salle. Paige Rice of St. Mary’s overwhelmed her field by almost a half minute, as she sped home home in a time of 10:40. She might have given the course record a challenge had she been pressed but she has two more years to try. Charlotte Corliss of Sunset placed second in the race with 11:09 and Vivian Hawkinson of South Salem secured third in 11:20.
Emelia Austin of St. Mary’s won the freshman race in 12:06 to edge Lauren Stokley of Kennedy. The pair entered the stadium essentially together with Alexa Bailey of Aloha, who finished third with 12:08. Jean Baptiste raced to victory against the freshman guys with his solid time of 10:04, which topped Mark Sussman of Sunset by five seconds. In some ways the story in that race was the staggering success of Central Catholic, which dominated the event. CC runners swamped their competition by scoring the next four places, as Sam Lomax (10:09), Sam Truax (10:13), Gunnar Vik (10:21) & Riley McCammon (10:25) followed in third through sixth. Harry Stewart of Central placed twelfth in 10:42 to give the Rams six of the top twelve finishers.
The novice races were won by Emma Scherzer of Lincoln and Drew Scott of Century. Scherzer ’s time of 13:11 won by five seconds over Ryannn Fadden of Century. Davis Kinney of La Salle placed second among the guys with 11:01.