Outlaws take cross-country title

Sloshy mud and steady rainfall do not typically translate into personal records on cross-country courses, but Aria Blumm is anything but typical. The senior runner took the lead from the gun and never looked back on her way to a personal-best 5,000-meters time of 19:29, well over a minute ahead of last year's winner, Breanna Wright of Cottage Grove.

Expectations were high for Blumm after she placed third at last year's 3,000-meter race at the OSAA 4A Track and Field Championships, where she set the school record. And, although she has raced well throughout this fall, her performance last Thursday at the Sky-Em District Championships at Lane Community College proves that she belongs among the top 4A girls at next week's state championships.

Blumm's win highlighted another dominating performance by the Outlaws, who have won four consecutive district meet titles. Sisters placed four runners among the top five finishers to capture the crown with just 24 points, 51 points ahead of second place Sutherlin (75). Junction City placed third (82), followed by Cottage Grove (106), Sweet Home (110) and Elmira (116)

Senior Maddi Boettner pulled her younger teammates Macadia Calavan and Sophie Borders along with her gutsy leadership to seal the win for Sisters. Calavan ended up third (21:22), Borders fourth (21:30), and Boettner fifth (21:25).

Serena Salisbury, the fifth scorer for the Outlaws, finished a minute back in 22:33 in 11th place, four places ahead of Mary Stewart (22:44). Natalie Marshall, the seventh runner, finished 25th in 23:59.

Later, in the junior varsity race, freshman Anna Bartlett underscored the depth the Outlaws are enjoying this season, winning the race in 22:24, which would have placed her 10th in the varsity race. In fact, the Outlaws swept the top 12 places in the junior varsity on their way to a perfect score.

Bartlett will be joining the team for the state meet.

Sisters may be able to improve on its fifth-place finish at State last year, which is certainly within grasp as the team has continued to improve in October, but the team is not in a pressure situation, according to Coach Josh Nordell.

"The team ran awesome at district and showed the kind of determination a team needs to have at the state-meet level," he said.

Blumm and Boettner were freshmen the last time the team claimed a trophy. That team placed third, just six points shy of first place.

Reigning champion Molalla returns a strong squad, while Phoenix has three runners expected to finish in the top 10. But Sisters' depth and recent competitiveness could propel them into top-four - and trophy - contention.

The boys team pulled off a big win as well to claim its fourth consecutive district meet title, behind a season-best team effort.

"The boys knew that pushing back Elmira's top runners was the key and we were able to do that all the way down the line," said Nordell.

Newcomer Tony Hooks placed second in 16:55 for Sisters, with fellow junior Dyut Fetrow next through the chute in 17:13. Elmira had runners in fourth and fifth, but Shea Krevi (17:35) and Jordan Pollard (17:42) essentially sealed the win by placing sixth and seventh respectively.

Not that fifth-place runner Patrick Krevi's personal best wasn't necessary.

"Patrick had some pressure to close the gap between himself and the rest of our scorers, and he did that in a big way, running a personal-best right when we needed it," said Nordell.

Will Werts (19:59) and Cole Pade (20:55) finished sixth and seventh for the Outlaws.

Sisters tallied 38 points, 13 points better than Elmira (51), which also qualified for state. Sweet Home, behind a win by senior Jakob Hiett (16:16), placed third with 61 points, followed by Junction City (71), Cottage Grove (133), and Sutherlin (171).

Sisters placed seventh at last year's state meet, and observers say that with Valley Catholic as the overwhelming favorite to win the state title, the rest of the teams will fight it out for the remaining hardware. Marshfield and Phoenix are among the other top contenders, but since many of the teams experienced significant turnover from last year, including Sisters, it's tough to predict the team race, according to Nordell.

"We're hoping to carry our momentum right back to LCC next week and see how it goes," he said.

The girls are scheduled to race at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, November 1, followed by the boys at 11:50 a.m. Tickets can be purchased on site or from the OSAA website.