Cross-country teams score at state meet

Published 12:42 pm Monday, November 6, 2023

EUGENE — The goal was clear for Wallowa County’s cross-country runners at the state meet, coach Dan Moody said: Come back with trophies.

And, on a soggy Saturday, Nov. 4 in Eugene, both teams did that: The boys’ team, propelled by top-four finishes from junior Jett Leavitt and sophomore Jonah Lyman, finished third at the 3A state championships, held at Lane Community College.

And the girls’ team, led by a ninth-place finish from sophomore Owyhee Harguess, earned fourth-place honors in the 3A-2A-1A portion of the meet.

“It’s a great day,” said Moody, the team’s longtime coach. “It’s always nice to come down here and bring hardware home. … I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Leavitt finished second in the 5K race; his time of 16 minutes and 19.9 seconds was just one second behind that posted by the winner, Vale’s Trevor Stewart.

“Trevor just had a little more in him at the end,” Leavitt said, adding that the constant rain during the race was a factor: “Every step felt really heavy.”

Overall, however, Leavitt said, “I’m really proud of my performance, even though it wasn’t quite what I wanted.”

Lyman finished fourth, with a time of 16 minutes and 27.8 seconds, and said he was generally happy with his race, even though the rain was a factor for him as well: “I don’t run well in it, for sure.”

Junior Xander Perry finished 28th, with a time of 17:51.0. Sophomores Jenning Scheifelbein and Colton Keffer finished 53rd and 54th, respectively. Scheifelbein finished the course in 18:35.5, and Keffer was right behind at 18:35.6.

Junior Lucas Goodrich placed 56th, in 18:54.0, and sophomore Isaac Beachy finished 60th, with a time of 18:59.6.

The boys’ team actually tied with Oregon Episcopal for second place, with 117 points, but were bumped down to third by virtue of a tiebreaker involving how their sixth runners finished. Normally, only the top five runners on each team are counted for the team score.

Valley Catholic won the 3A boys’ title.

On the girls’ side in the 3A-2A-1A meet, the team finished fourth, with 128 points, behind champion Oregon Episcopal, Siuslaw and Heppner.

Harguess said her goal for the race was to finish in the top 10, a goal she accomplished, crossing the line in 20 minutes and 16.6 seconds.

“I told myself before I started, I just have to run for God and everything will be good,” she said.

She didn’t even mind the rain: “I love running in the rain in Wallowa County,” she said.

Sophomore Abigail Hurley finished 12th, with a time of 20:24.9. Sophomore Opal McDonald placed 40th, with a time of 21:28.4. Freshman Kyra Brown finished 44th, with a time of 21:34.2. Sophomores Mary Hellinger and Zion Boyd finished 50th and 51st, respectively, with times of 21:46.5 and 21:50.6. And sophomore Camdyn Weer finished 67th, with a time of 22:51.5.

The Wallowa County girls’ team won the state crown in 2022, but Moody knew it would be difficult to repeat this year.

“This whole year was just an uphill battle with kids being sick, being hurt,” he said. “We just struggled.”

But, he said, “It seemed like things started coming together toward the end,” testament to the resiliency of his runners.

“Our kids are tough,” he said. “Wallowa County kids are just tough.”

And the Outlaws — on both the boys’ and girls’ sides — are loaded with young runners. The girls’ team at the state meet included six sophomores and one freshman. The boys’ team almost was as youthful, with four sophomores and three juniors.

“It’ll be fun for the next couple of years,” Lyman said.

More Coverage To see more photos from the state cross-country meet in Eugene, go to the online version of this story at wallowa.com.

To see more photos from the state cross-country meet in Eugene, go to the online version of this story at wallowa.com.