With no Jayden Warner, Wyatt Jacobson or William Laman in the mix — those local cross country stars all graduated last year — the community will soon get familiar with new names, new local legends. New eras started for local cross country teams on Friday, Aug. 28. The Knappa boys team made an opening statement, while Astoria’s strong freshman class made an immediate impact. Here’s the roundup for local cross country teams.
Knappa boys flex their muscles
No Wyatt Jacobson? No problem for the Knappa boys cross country team.
The Loggers traveled to Monmouth, Oregon to take part in a star-studded meet at Western Oregon on Friday, Aug. 28. Taking on mostly teams from 4A-6A, the Loggers made an impression. The defending 2A State Champions finished third out of 30 teams in attendance, only finishing behind 6A McMinnville and 5A Corvallis. Knappa scored a total of 108, second place Corvallis scored 103 and in first place, McMinnville had 95.
Returning all but three runners from last year’s squad, the Loggers are set up for another three-way title fight with Union and Bandon. Knappa junior Rowdy Justus will also be amongst the runners competing for an individual state title.
The day for Knappa couldn’t have gone better. Justus came home fourth place overall and ran a personal best in one of the fastest races ever for this time of year. North Eugene senior Ashenafi McKinnis set a course record for the 3,000 meter course with a time of 8:20.9. This blazing time served as a tow for the rest of the field as most of the participants ran a personal best. The 8:44.04 that Justus ran shattered his previous best time of 9:17 that he ran last season.
Justus was followed by sophomore Kyler Rodriguez in a time of 9:16.62. Rodriguez finished 18th and dropped over a minute off his previous personal best. Logan Affolter was the third runner for Knappa with a personal best of 9:25 and 24th place. Senior Paul Thompson clocked a best time of 9:31.88 to finish 34th and Trey Lempea was the fifth runner with a time of 9:34.67 to come home 38th. Tanner Jones was the non scorer Knappa runner in a personal best of 9:46.78 and a 56th place finish.
On the girls side, freshman Bristol Weichal led home her teammates with a 67th-place finish and a time of 12:16.38. She was followed closely by Zoey Lackey, who finished 69th in a time of 12:17.0. Danni Finn was the third Knappa runner in a time of 13:56.28 and finished in 134th place.
Next up for the Loggers will be the Ultimook Race on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Astoria freshmen shine
Astoria head coach Jeremy Boutin’s faith in his teams was put to the test at the Valiant Opener hosted by Valley Catholic.
Boutin has been very bullish on his teams’ chances this year due to the wealth of experience returning: a talented freshmen class and the team more than doubling in size since last season. Based on the first meet, his optimism is well warranted.
Both the Fishermen boys and girls were led by freshmen. Grady Tillotson led the boys side and freshmen duo Ila Canessa and Mavis Allen were the first two Fishermen girls to cross the line. Tillotson was the top finishing freshman with a sixth finish. His time of 10:16.90 was a 30-second personal best. Canessa finished fifth in the girls race and ran a time of 12:40.85. In middle school last year she ran a 12:10 for 3,000 meters, so there’s still lots of room for improvement throughout the season. Allen finished 10th in a personal best time of 13:18.7. Male freshman Cameron Hano was the fifth scorer for Astoria at Valley Catholic and ran a time of 12:17.2 in his 33rd place finish.
Team wise, both teams finished second. The boys were second behind Valley Catholic with 78 points and the girls scored 62 points and were beat at the line by Catlin Gabel. While the boys fell to a league foe, the Lady Fishermen beat both Valley Catholic and Tillamook.
Other scorers for the Fishermen boys included: sophomore Turner Boslar, who ran a personal best of 10:30; Recker Harvey who clocked a 10:48; and Braedon Long who ran a personal best of 11:29.26. For the girls, Teslyn Wintersteen, Addie Earl and Lucy Jannusch were third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Wintersteen completed her first high school cross country 3,000 meters in a time of 13:59, Earl ran a 14:00.60 and Whitsett clocked a season best of 14:10.89.
Early returns show the Fishermen are fast now and have a chance to be even faster once the athletes build up throughout the season. Both genders have a chance to win league titles this year if everything goes well. The next meet for Astoria will be the Cowapa League Preview at Roots Disc Golf Course in Warren on Sept. 2.