Outlaws sweep XC meet

The rugged course at the Highland Tree Farm did not deter the Outlaw cross-country teams, as Sisters won both the girls and boys team titles at the Molalla Invitational.

In the girls race the Outlaws started strong and finished even stronger to easily vanquish the host Indian team, which returned six of its runners from last year's team that placed second at State.

"We won the meet in the second half as our runners maintained pace and moved up in the pack," said Coach Josh Nordell. "They were certainly not intimidated."

Sophie Borders led the Outlaws, running second for the entire race behind Molalla's Amanda Clarizio, who won the race handily in 21:33. Borders came through in 22:38, followed by Mary Stewart in third place (23:02), Serena Salisbury in fifth (23:08), Anna Bartlett in seventh (23:13), Macadia Calavan in 12th (23:40), Megan Calarco in 13th (23:50) and Amy Hills 15th (24:35).

"Times were slow because of terrain and lots of turns, but the girls really competed which is good to see in the first meet of the season," said Nordell.

Sisters won with 27 points, followed by Molalla (38), Estacada (76), and St. Stephens Academy (106).

The boys cut things a bit closer on the score, but prevailed by three points over Molalla behind a strong team effort.

Tony Hooks led from start to finish to win in 18:00 and his teammates did what was necessary to secure the win. Jordan Pollard raced well to place third in 18:47, while Izaak Kanzig held tough to finish sixth in (19:54).

Things got dicey for the Outlaws as Dyut Fetrow had to step off the course due to ankle pain after running in the top 10 through two miles. Cole Pade (20:37), Patrick Krevi (21:24), Will Werts (21:31) and Cody Martin (22:08) stepped up to get the job done, all finishing within the top 20.

Sisters scored 38 points to trip up Molalla (41) and Estacada (72), St. Stephens (85) and Country Christian (125).

"This was a nice small meet for us to start with," said Nordell. "It provided an opportunity to see the kids race without being lost in the crowd."

Such will not be the case this Saturday as the Outlaws travel to the Seaside Three Course Challenge at Camp Rilea, which is one of the largest gatherings of cross-country runners in the Northwest, featuring hundreds of runners competing on three separate

courses.

"Seaside is like a celebration of real cross-country," said Nordell. "The courses are tough and runners come from every size of high school to test themselves against one another and the course. It's always memorable for our kids."