Outlaw boys take seventh at state meet

Wes Hodson digs in. Photo by Sue Beck

The Outlaws boys cross country team finished the season with the best results in school history as the squad matched its ranking by finishing seventh at Saturday's state meet in Eugene.

There were no big surprises at the meet.

As they have done all season, the boys ran as a tightly packed group -- the top five runners all finished within 40 seconds of one another, proving they belonged among the best teams in Oregon.

Seniors Alex Templar (17:31), Jordan Beck (17:34), and Koby McCorkle (17:42) finished 37th, 40th, and 49th, respectively to pace the Outlaws.

Sophomore Wes Hodson (17:47) was right on the heels of his older team mates and finished in 55th place, while Devon Pelkey (18:05) ended up in 71st place to complete the scoring for Sisters.

Nathan Church (18:34) and Ben Boro (18:57) also competed well for the Outlaws.

Junior David King, a two-year varsity runner, was unable to run in the meet due to illness.

"The boys should be proud of being among the top eight teams this year in Oregon," said coach Charlie Kanzig.

"They overcame adversity and pulled out a solid performance at state."

Kanzig acknowledged the work of first-year assistant Casey Glick as a key to the team's success.

"Casey has a real future in coaching," he said. "His enthusiasm and passion for the sport is unbelievable."

Wilsonville repeated as state champions with 97 points. The rest of the top eight teams included Philomath (111), Siuslaw (120), Phoenix (124), Elmira, (133), Molalla (176), Sisters (178), and Astoria (186).

"It would have been great to have gotten past Molalla for sixth place, but to be within two points of them shows we ran strong," said Kanzig.

The team looks ahead to next season without the leadership of key seniors, but Kanzig remains optimistic.

"It's tough to lose such experienced runners as Koby and Jordan, not to mention late bloomers Alex Templar and Devon Pelkey, but the guys coming back are quality kids with a lot of competitiveness," said Kanzig.