Hood River Valley won its seventh successive girls district cross country championship Wednesday at Blue Lake Park, where the Eagles hoisted the Northwest Oregon Conference championship trophy.
The Eagles held off a spirited effort by Putnam to win the title, 43-47, on an overcast day in east Portland. HRV qualified for this weekend’s Class 5A state meet at Lane Community College in Eugene. This marks the 12th consecutive season Hood River Valley has qualified a girls cross country team for state.
HRV’s boys team also earned a berth at state with its second-place district finish behind Wilsonville.
Hood River’s girls were led by seniors Phoebe Wood, who was third in a personal-best 19 minutes, 28 seconds, and Olivia Nickson, who was fifth in 19:38 – two seconds off her lifetime best.
Putnam, led by individual winner Noemi Lundgren (19:08.2), also had the fourth and sixth-place finishers. HRV’s advantage came via the bunching of its third through fifth finishers: sophomore Alex Bronson; frosh Syl Perrin; and junior Cristine Kinoshita. They were 10th, 12th and 13th, and their pack pushed back Putnam’s No. 4 and 5 runners, which added to the Kingsmen’s team total.
Bronson ran a season best by 56 seconds of 20:51. Perrin was clocked at 21:11, and Kinoshita ran a personal best of 21:21 (a 50-second improvement). HRV frosh Charlotte Fuller was 17th in 21:44 – a 28-second improvement - and classmate Sadie Baumann was 23rd in 22:27 – a 38-second PR.
Milwaukie’s Logan Law successfully defended his NWOC boys individual championship by running away to a 40-second win over the flat, fast course in 15:04. Wilsonville, which scored 29 team points, had the next two placers - Mason Weisgerber and Carter Cutting – and also the 7th, 8th and 9th finishers.
Hood River, which scored 57 points, was led by senior Elliot Hawley’s fourth-place effort in 15:54. Senior William Bunch was 10th in 16:58; sophomore Kai Wagner was 12th I 17:03; sophomore Logan King was 15th in 17:17; and freshman Sebastian Clarkson 16th in 17:24 to complete HRV’s scoring. The Eagles also had the 24th and 28th finishers in sophomore Davis Kerr and senior John Beckman.
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