Sweet Home’s McKenzie Miller and Emma Whitton established themselves among the top cross-country runners in not just the Oregon West Conference, but the state Saturday, when they both broke the 20-minute mark 5,000 meters.
Their performances came at the Northwest Classic at Lane Community College, on a course nearly identical to the one on which the state championship meet will be held in November. The competition included nearly 70 high schools from across the state and nearly 40 middle school teams.
Miller, a junior, placed 10th in a field of 172 runners, in 19:43.00. Whitton, a freshman running her third race at the 5K distance, was 13th in 19:46.50.
Miller’s time was nearly a minute faster than the personal best she set last year on the same course, and Whitton improved her PR by 1:15.
“It was a really good day,” Coach Dave Martin said. “We had seven kids who ran their very first 5K of the year, and some for whom it was their first 5K ever. It was good to get that experience.”
It was a good day for much of the high school team, as well as for Sweet Home’s junior high runners, who also competed and, in some cases, posted some huge PR’s.
“Seven kids ran lifetime PR’s,” Martin said. “For where we are in our training, to run lifetime PR’s in the third week of the season is a good thing.”
Sophomore Ryker Burr was the top finisher for the high school boys, placing 81st in a field of 219 in the boys varsity 5000 in 18:47, a 10-second personal best.
Sophomore Kason Koenig-Walters was 142nd in 20:05.50, an 11-second PR.
“Ryker ran a really good race, and Kason ran a lifetime PR in his first race of the year,” Martin noted.
Freshman Evan Malabago was next, posting a 4:14 personal best of 20:46.60 to finish 168th.
He was followed by freshman Acen Webber, who finished 172nd in 20:53.30, a nearly 45-second personal best, despite aggravating an injury on the course. Next was sophomore Hunter Clark, 174th in 21:05.10; senior Kasey Kast, 193rd in 21:57.20; and sophomore Conner Spencer, 199th in 22:16.80.
“Acen and Evan Malabago ran really good races ,” Martin said. “We ran very well on the boys side.”
The girls race was won by senior Daisy Lalonde of East Linn Christian, who is a Sweet Home resident. She broke 18 minutes for the first time, running 17:42.00. Philomath senior Adele Beckstead was the only OWC runner ahead of Miller and Whitton, finishing fourth in 18:53.10.
Miller’s time puts her at 10th in the state 4A standings for the 5,000-meter distance, while Whitton is 11th, her time the fastest for a 4A freshman in the state thus far. Beckstead is ranked second in the state. (Cross-country rankings are less black-and-white than track, due to the fact that course conditions can make a big difference in times.)
For Sweet Home, freshman Grace Gardner, in her first 5K race in high school, finished 132nd in the varsity race in 25:15.30, followed closely by senior Natiyah Koenig-Walters, who ran 25:17.20 to finish 134th in her first race this season.
“On the girls side, obviously, we had two really good performances from McKenzie and Emma, very good for this early in this year,” Martin said, adding that those times “would be good if they ran that at end of year.
“Grace and Natiyah ran really good races. We would have had a really good girls team (Saturday), but Annabelle (Morris) was sick.”
In the boys JV 5,000-meter race, which had 289 finishers, freshman Louis Kistner was 129th in 22:27 in his first 5K, junior Keagan Vogel was 134th in 22:31.40; freshman Noah Strawn was 143rd in 22:47.10, a 45-second PR; freshman Eli Adams was 235th in 26:08.50 and senior Boden Sayer was 250th in 27:02.70.
In the girls JV race, which included 152 runners, sophomore Noelle Helfrich was 78th in 27:57, just 12 seconds off the PR she ran at the same course last year. Junior Rylie Hollingsworth was 142nd in 37:03
and junior Madison Olheiser, in her first cross-country race, was 143rd in 37:04.
“Noelle Helfrich ran a great race,” Martin said. “She was just off her lifetime PR. This is the best she’s looked this year. I was really pleased with her race.”
In the middle school boys race, Elijah Rodriguez was 13th in a field of 270 runners in 10:40.00, a one-minute improvement over the PR he’d set the week before, and Hudson Ogden was 48th in 12:19.70, a PR of 1:39. Martin noted that Rodriguez’s time makes him the fastest cross-country runner for the Tigers in the last 20-some years.
In the middle school girls race, Cassie Spencer finished 10th in a field of 188 runners, in 12:34.20. Marian Helfrich was 101st in 16:17.10, a 30-second PR; Pyper Hall was 114th in 16:47.80, an improvement of nearly 3½ minutes; and Lexie Lee was 153rd in 19:32.10, a 4½ minute improvement in her second race at that distance.
All are eighth-graders.
In addition to Rodriguez’s finish “Hudson ran a really good race,” Martin said. “And Cassie ran way better than she did week before. All six of the junior high kids had seasonal PRs and some of them were huge. It was a great day. We’re on track. I’m pleased with how things went Saturday.
Up next for the Huskies and Tigers is their home meet this Saturday, Sept. 27, on the grounds of Community Chapel and GB’s Trees, 42250 Ames Creek Road. This meet will involve much smaller fields for both the high school and middle schoolers, so some races will be combined. The course will also feature more challenging terrain than the one at Lane.
Middle school girls will run at 10:30 a.m., followed by the middle school boys at 11, a combined varsity and JV high school race 11:30 a.m. and a combined varsity and JV race for the high school boys at 12:15.
