Summit Girls Slip Past Jesuit; Kate Peters Wins Showdown With Chloe Foerster; Jesuit Boys Fulfill Promise; James Crabtree Tops Loaded 6A Field

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE -- The return of the Oregon state high school cross country championships to Lane Community College was greeted a show talent and depth rarely seen in the state. 

The US#5 Summit girls edged US#8 Jesuit 55-58 in one of the best matchups outside of Colorado anywhere in the country. 

The US#4 Jesuit boys prevailed in a strong 6A boys field, motivated by second-place finishes in 2018 and 2019. 

And the individual races lived up to their billing. Junior Kate Peters of Lake Oswego used patience and a well-timed move to seize control of the girls 6A race after the 2-mile split, pulling away from Jesuit's Chloe Foerster in the first matchup of the season between the state's two unbeaten elite girls. 

The meet reached its crescendo in the final 200 meters of a 6A boys race that was perhaps the deepest in state history -- with 12 runners breaking 15:30 on a course that was extended back to a full 5,000 meters and buffeted all day by windy and wet conditions. 

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The Summit girls won for the 13th consecutive time, including the past three at the 6A level. In 2022, the school is expected to return to 5A where it has very little competition as a track and cross country power. 

"Especially this being my senior year, our goal going in was to win," Summit's Teaghan Knox said. "I think we executed and some girls had the best races I've seen all season."

Knox is the lone holdover from the 2019 Nike Cross Nationals championship team -- and the 2021 version isn't far off that historic team. The 2019 team had a lower stick at No. 1 and was a bit stronger at No. 5. 

The competition between Summit and Jesuit brought out the best in both squads. 

"The first thing I said to the girls is we ran our best race all season and so we need to be proud of that," Jesuit girls coach Laura Harmon said. "Sometimes you go back to Jesuit and there's this mentality of if you didn't win 'What happened?' We executed really well and Summit did that-much better today."  

Peters, who has set her sights on the Eastbay Cross Country Championships, showed maturity by holding her fire in the first two miles. Then when it was time to go, she made a decisive change of pace that left the field and prevented it from coming down to a kick against the superior foot speed of Foerster, a 2:05 800-meter runner. 

KATE PETERS MAKES HER MOVE by Joe Zochert 

Peters finished in 17:28.7 and beat Foerster by seven seconds. 

The boys 6A race ended with a spectacular finish worthy of a race with no clear favorite and nearly 10 legitimate contenders. 

Sherwood's James Crabtree tried to run away from the field early and built a six-second lead in the first mile (4:37.7). But even he knew that the guys behind him would not concede without a fight. 

Franklin's Charlie North and Central Catholic's Wes Shipsey caught Crabtree with 500 meters to go and even passed him. But Crabtree managed to latch on and the three of them hit the track with 300 meters to go together. 

 "We hit the track and negative thoughts started to creep in, and I just pushed them out," Crabtree said. "I put myself back into position around the corner and I just took a chance with 150 (to go) and just hammered it home."

Crabtree hit the finish in 15:04.5 and North was next in 15:05.2. Shipsey was third in 15:08.1. 

The US#4 Jesuit boys, led by the fourth-place finish of Jacob Nenow (15:09.8), won its first team title since 2017 and fifth overall. Caleb Hildenbrand (12th in 15:28.3), Josh Augustine (15th in 15:44.5), Gus Clevenger (17th in 15:44.6) and Caden Swanson (18th in 15:48.4) contribued to the Crusaders' 66 points. Central Catholic, US#12, was second with 83 points. US#27 Lincoln was third with 112.

Jesuit's performance was one of the best in state history and its the first time a school has put five scorers across the finish line under 15:50 at the state meet. 

"We just had that mindset that showing what we've done over the summer is going to pay off here," Nenow said. "We've put in the work, but then today (it was about) executing the plan. 

"Mainly it was making the decision to run for each other, and making sure we were laying it all out there for one another." 

CLASS 5A

Tyrone Gorze of Crater left no doubt what he was going after on Saturday -- a performance to measure up, and surpass, what would come later in the 6A race. 

"Yeah, I guess," said Gorze, who sped through the first mile in 4:36.5. "It's always good to win your race, but they're going to do what they're going to do. Hopefully I can beat their time."

Running with aggression from the start, Gorze pushed through windy conditions and soft footing to complete his race in 15:05.2. He was 30 seconds ahead of his freshman teammate, Josiah Tostenson (15:35.0) at the finish. 

Gorze earlier this seaon ran 14:28.3 for 5,000 meters on his home track, a demonstration of fitness that boosted his confidence coming to state. 

Crater competed without its usual No. 3 man, Jeffrey Hellmann, who sustained a neck injury in a car accident. Hellmann was at the meet on Saturday to cheer for his team. 

Even without him, Crater scored 35 points and beat top contender Crescent Valley, which was second with 54 points. 

"Jeffrey was definitely in the back of everybody's mind today," Crater coach Justin Loftus said. "I yelled his name a couple of times coming into the finish. Jeffrey gave his all on a daily basis for for the guys and they did it today for sure for him."

Crescent Valley freshman Emily Wisniewski won the girls race in 18:27.9, winning with some ease by 23 seconds. Corvallis retained its team title with its trio of fron-runners, juniors Ava Betts and Avery Nason and sophomore Kate Middleton, going 5-6-7. Corvallis finished with 42 points and CV was next with 75. 

CLASS 4A 

Siuslaw was greeted by a parade and fire trucks back in Florence in the late afternoon after securing a team sweep. 

Much like they did in March at the 4A Cross Country Championships, the Vikings showed depth and tenacity to pull off wins for both the boys and girls. 

The girls' win was dramatic, a one-point victory over Philomath, 85-86. Siuslaw had lost to Marist three times this fall, but the Eugene private school finished third with 93 points. 

"It's insane. I mean I still haven't fully processed it," said Rylee Colton, who placed fifth. "We have such a young team and considering we won our state last year, it's amazing winning it again."

La Grande sophomore Emily Tubbs won the girls race in 19:04.6. Phoenix duo Sophia Stubblefield and Kyla Potratz finished together in second and third.

Siuslaw's boys, which brought back six from the win in the spring, took care of business with 42 points. Chad Hughes, Samuel Ulrich and Kyle Hughes all finished in the top seven to lead the Vikings. 

Marshfield's Alex Garcia-Silver won the 4A boys race in 16:02.2, leading from wire to wire. He won by 28 seconds. 

CLASS 3A/2A/1A

Enterprise won the Class 3A boys title with 50 points, building on its 2019 win and 2018 runner-up finish. Senior Zac Knapp led the way with a victory in 15:52.3. 

Bandon won the girls' small-school team title by a razor-thin marging after tying with Vernonia with 74 points apiece. Bandon pulled out the sixth-runner tiebreaker, 48th place to 55th, to win the team title. 

Columbia Christian's Makena Houston dominated the race and overcame a bout of food poisoning to win 19:05.9. 

Colin Friend of St. Stephens Academy won the first boys race of the day, for Class 2A/1A, in 16:23.5. Union packed together four of the top nine scorers and scored 39 points for coach Steve Sheehy's seventh boys state title. Bandon was just a step behind and finished with 43 points. 

Team champions - 

Class 6A - Jesuit boys 66 points, Summit girls 55 points - RESULTS

Class 5A - Crater boys 35 points, Corvallis girls 42 points - RESULTS

Class 4A - Siuslaw boys 42 points, Siuslaw girls 85 points - RESULTS

Class 3A - Enterprise boys 50 points, Bandon girls 74 points (tiebreaker) - RESULTS

Class 2A/1A - Union boys 39 points - RESULTS