The Tualatin Invite ran to form with no great surprises unlike last year. Last fall with very high temperatures the races were shortened to two miles & Nick Obletz of Oregon Episcopal surprised Dan Oekerman of Beaverton. With temperatures only in the mid-eighties the race returned to the 5K format and Oekerman zipped to victory in a time of 15:52. Nick Obletz followed him home in alone second with a time of 16:11. Todd McDonald of Lake Oswego had a break-out race with his third place effort of 16:15. West Linn leaders Conor Cushman (16:48) & Tyler Griffin (17:01) claimed 4th & 5th respectively, while Trevor Lane of Southwest Christian took sixth in 17:10. Phillip Kearns of Lake Oswego, Rich Fettig of SW Christian, Scott Allred of Tualatin & Andrew Hinkel of Portland Lutheran rounded out the top ten.
Roman Ollar of West Linn, a member of the Lion’s vaunted freshman group, secured 11th in 17:29, as the Lions claimed the team title with a score of 52. Lake Oswego placed second among the boys with 73 & Tualatin was third with 85. Lake Oswego was the best of the gals’ teams with 44 points, while West Linn placed second with 53. South Salem was not far behind in third with 59 points.
Erin Gregoire, who placed fifth in this meet last fall, topped the girls this year. The Beaverton ace was clocked in 20:27 and easily claimed the victory. Shea Vallaire (20:50) & Becca Miles (20:58) led the way for Lake Oswego with their respective second & third place finishes. Vivian Hawkinson of South Salem earned fourth in 21:09 and Kayla Moore of Tualatin took fifth with 21:12. The Saxon’s Atalie Frank placed sixth in 21:21, which gave her a three second margin over the Lion’s Leah Henningsen. Anna Peaslee of Lake Oswego finished 8th and then Rebecca Donnelly & Julia Boyd-Helm of West Linn cemented the team victory by claiming ninth & tenth. Nina Weaver of Southwest Christian came in eleventh with 22:09.
This afternoon the Canby Invitational will be held at the Molalla River State Park course.