High Quality Fields Ready To Assemble At The Oregon State Meet On Nov. 6

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The district meets this week across Oregon returned to their normal spots on the calendar and put the relevant state qualifiers through to the state championships next week at Lane Community College in Eugene. 

It is shaping up to be one of the most competitive state meets in the history of the OSAA meet, with two nationally ranked top-10 girls teams in No. 5 Summit and No. 7 Jesuit (plus No. 27 Lincoln), and four of the top 30 boys teams -- No. 4 Jesuit, No. 12 Central Catholic, No. 27 Lincoln and No. 29 Franklin . 

On top of that, Lake Oswego's Kate Peters and Jesuit's Chloe Foerster -- both in the top 10 nationally -- will go head to head for the first time this fall. 

A total of 16 boys in the state have run under 15 minutes on a variety of courses, albeit some of them fast (and possibly short). Thirteen of those 16 will lineup in the 6A final Nov. 6. 

Here is a look at what happened so far in the 6A district meets. 

Pacific Conference 

On a balmy day in McMinnville Thursday, Sherwood cleaned up in both the boys and girls races and will send a large contingent to state. 

James Crabtree (US#26) separated from his training partner Jeffrey Rogers and won a soft, damp course at Joe Dancer Park in 15:31.4. Rogers was next to give Sherwood a 1-2 finish. 

"It was tough out there today," Crabtree said. "It was humid, a little sticky." 

The Bowmen put five in the top 12 on the way to capturing the team title. 

Sherwood's girls were even more dominant, taking six of the top eight spots. Senior Nancy Biegel won the district title by 37 seconds in 18:35.8. 

INTERVIEWS | RESULTS

Mt. Hood Conference

Central Catholic's boys swept the top four places and welcomed the return of Wes Shipsey to the lineup, which was the best news of the day for coach Dave Frank. Shipsey, who sat out a couple of meets since the Chile Pepper XC Festival in Arkansas with a sore knee, won Thursday's race at Blue Lake Park in 15:16.4. 

The Rams also placed five in the top seven in the girls race and Ella McGillis won it in 18:16.8. 

RESULTS

Portland Interscholastic League

Lincoln and Franklin raced one another for the sixth time this fall at the PIL district meet at Lents Park on Wednesday. All either of them wanted to do was safely qualify for state and both schools will be send two full teams. 

Franklin's boys put five in ahead of Lincoln's fourth, but the Cardinals won the title 35-37 thanks to a 1-3-4 finish up front. Aiden Smith joined the sub-15 club by running 14:50.4 to claim the city title for Lincoln. Franklin's Charlie North was 24 seconds back. 

Franklin's Kaiya Robertson won the girls race in 17:19.5, proving that she is a contender individually next week. Lincoln's Kendall York was second (17:26.8) and Ida B. Wells' Charlotte Richman (17:34.8) was third. 

Lincoln scored 27 points, followed by Ida B. Wells (50) and Franklin (58). The top three teams advance to state. 

PHOTOS by Kim Spir | RESULTS

Metro League

Jesuit did its usual number on the Metro League meet, winning both team titles decisively on Wednesday at Tualatin Hills Park and Rec District. 

Foerster pressed the pace through narrow wooded trails and sections of fast pavement and wet grass to win the district title in an impressive time of 16:51.6. That's about 27 seconds faster than her winning time in 2019 on the same course. 

Paige Wiley of Sunset broke up Jesuit's string with a third-place finish. The Crusaders put six in the top seven -- all of them under 18:40. 

Sunset's Benjamin Balasz outdueled Jesuit's Jacob Nenow in another sub-15 race on the boys side. Balasz won it in 14:55.4 and Nenow was second in 14:58.2 as both ran new personal bests. 

Jesuit went 2-3-4-5-6-7 on the way to 20 points -- all six finishing under 15:40. 

PHOTOS by Tim Healy | RESULTS

Three Rivers League

Peters, the top ranked female runner in the country, has raced sparingly this fall but she has made each race count. On Wednesday at Oregon City, Peters flew around the course by herself in 17:12.4 and had a winning margin of 74 seconds over her younger sister, Ana. 

Peters' time would have placed 12th in the boys race -- and possibly it would have been higher with the competition. She would have scored for every boys team in league. 

Lakeridge won the girls title with 56 points and Lake Oswego (80) and Tigard (83) were next. 

In a similar scenario to the girls race, Tualatin's Caleb Lakeman and his younger brother Aaron went 1-2. Caleb clocked an easy 15:46.6 and Aaron was behind him in 16:10.1. 

Lakeridge put four in the top 10 to win the boys team title with 48 points. Tualatin was next with 73 and Canby was third with 82. 

RESULTS

Mountain Valley Conference

Summit, as per usual, stomped on this steppingstone to state and swept the team titles Wednesday at Pine Nursery Park. 

Teaghan Knox led the Summit girls to a 1-6 sweep of the varsity race, and the Storm's JV swept the top 15 places in that race. It was a show of force in a district without much competition. Summit's top seven were all in the top nine of the varsity race. Knox's winning time was 18:29.5. 

The Summit boys went 1-2 with seniors Mason Kissell and Jackson Keefer leading the team to a district title with 32 points. Mountain View (69) edged West Salem (72) for second. 

RESULTS

Southwest Conference

South Eugene's Asher McKinnon beat the preseason favorite, South Medford's Michael Maiorano, in the varsity district final at Valley of the Rogue State Park, 15:22.4 to 15:28.6. 

Ben Collins, who was third, led Sheldon to the team victory (40 points) in a close battle with South Eugene (47) and South Medford (50). 

Estella Gutches of North Medford edged out Madison Wilt of Grants Pass, 18:51.7 to 18:53.5, to win the girls title. In a district race with more parity than just about any other, all five schools scored less than 100 points. South Eugene won it with 40 points, North Medford was next with 60 and Grants Pass was third with 74.

RESULTS