Cross-country teams up to challenge new league

After years of dominating the Sky-Em Conference, the boys and girls cross-country teams find themselves in a new league. The Oregon West league has shown plenty of strength in recent years. The Outlaws are eager and ready to face that challenge.

The Outlaws boys won the district title last year and placed a close sixth at state behind a varsity crew that included five freshman and a sophomores in the top seven. Of course the loss to graduation of Jordan Pollard, who finished second at state, hurts, but the young squad returns more hungry and experienced, according to Head Coach Josh Nordell.

"These guys had a good summer of training on their own," he said. "We should see some real pay-off once we get into the racing season. They want to prove themselves worthy of a state trophy.

Ethan Hosang, the fastest of the mighty freshman last year, is back, along with fellow sophomores John Peckham, Will Thorsett, Sam May, and Vicente Rebolledo. Josh Liddell, a junior, is also back in fine form.

A good turnout of returnees and newcomers on the boys team gives the Outlaws plenty of potential to develop not just seven, but 10 to 12 varsity-level runners this year, according to Nordell.

"The beauty of cross-country is that disciplined work can turn into strong results even for relatively inexperienced kids," he said. "And, we have a lot of young men doing the right stuff this season."

The Outlaws will have to be strong to qualify out of a tough league that includes two teams that finished ahead of them last year at state. Stayton finished second and Newport third in 2017 and return many of their star runners. Additionally, the Warriors of Philomath, a perennial state meet qualifier, are also in the league, but got edged out of qualifying last year by Newport after tying through five runners and losing based on the sixth runner's place.

"Those teams are well-coached and have high goals," said Nordell. "We are all ranked in the top 10 in the pre-season 4A polls, so we expect the season to be a battle."

The girls team, which placed fourth at the OSAA State Championships last year, has challenges and opportunities of its own with the loss of varsity runners to graduation and injuries. On the bright side the team returns seniors Ella Cole and Amy Hills as well as junior Kate Bowen, who arrived in Sisters last January and proceeded to demolish the school record for 3,000 meters during track season and placed in both that distance and the 1,500 at the state meet. Sophomore Iris Diez, who moved into varsity position in the second half of the season last year, also returns.

The unknown for Nordell is how the rest of the team will develop.

"Our top returnees are solid," said Nordell, "and we are working hard to train up the rest of our varsity crew.

Philomath and Stayton appear to be the biggest challengers in the league. The Warriors and Eagles finished sixth and seventh respectively at state last year. Both teams return all of their varsity making the Outlaws appear to be the darkhorses at the outset of the season.

Competition gets underway for Sisters at the Husky Invitational on Thursday, September 13 in Sweet Home.

Nordell, ever the optimist, said, "Our future is bright and the numbers are trending upwards, and cross-country simply brings all of us happiness and joy."