Already facing more than 3,000 of the best harriers, 10 Athletics East participants had to deal with high elevation, below freezing temperatures, snow and mud on Dec. 8 at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in Reno, Nev.
As the program’s first team to compete on the national stage, this group finished 13th out of 19 teams.
“I am so proud of each and every one of these young athletes that gave their all in very tough conditions,” Athletics East coach Angela Hanson said.
Both Juan Diego Contreras and Friedrich Stelzer became just the second and third All-American cross country champions after their top-25 finishes, and Taylor Fox nearly found his way onto the All-American list with his 40th place output.
Racing late in the afternoon, the 15-18-year-old boys went up against 245 other runners and put their best foot forward.
Stelzer placed 14th overall in the 17-18-year-old division, 33rd in the 15-18 category with a final time of 18 minutes and 19 seconds.
Nick Caracciolo hustled to a mark of 19:50 for 69th in the classification and 117th in the 15-18 group, David Wring went for a 20:28 to grab 93rd and 164th place, Spencer Coburn crossed the finish line in 21:02, which placed him 104th (17-18) and 187th (15-18), and Gavin Cates was in 121st place (17-18) and 212th (15-18) with his 21:58.
“Being here at nationals was truly a wonderful opportunity, an amazing experience and the best way to wrap up my senior year in cross country,” Wring said. “The weather we had on this course truly tested our limits of mental and physical strength. The race was tough, but it was most definitely worth the trip.”
Contreras and Fox opened AE’s racing slate in the 13-14-year-old classification at 4,000 kilometers, with Contreras garnering a time of 14:35 to score 20th place, while Fox, from Union, competed against 386 boys and tallied a 15:03 for 40th place overall on the Rancho San Rafael Regional Park Course.
Following that event, the 15-18-year-old girls went at it, in a race that featured cold weather, on a worn-out course, where athletes were losing shoes and falling in the mud.
Still though, the AE trio showed well versus 155 others, as Emily Johnson finished 113th after a final rally of 24:35 for the best output.
Caitie Wring wrapped up her 5k run in 24:41 to lock down 118th place, and Liz Tapia hustled to the finish line in 25:27 for 133rd place.
“These are the first girls to make it to a national level with Athletics East and they showed their strength and tenacity on a competitive stage,” Athletics East coach Angela Hanson said.
Already with a very productive spring season in track and cross country, where she punched a state ticket, Tapia can feel even better about her production as a nationals qualifier.
“My main goal, along with many others, was so make it to nationals in the first place. And we did,” Tapia said. “I didn’t really have much of a goal after that, so once we got there, I just wanted to PR. But we all felt that we did good.”
The 10 runners have nearly three months to rest up and prepare for the 2019 track and field season.
Last year, Athletics East had three earn their nationals stripes, and with more than triple that number representing the Greater Columbia Gorge, Hanson feels that the best is yet to come for the program.
“We hope to cultivate a bigger team, and continue to reach the national stage, showing that The Dalles, Heppner, Union, Pendleton and all of the other athletes that compete with AE can show up and show off with athletes from Oregon and the rest of the nation.”
Anyone interested in the Athletics East program can contact coach Hanson through email at angela.dietz.hanson@gmail.com.
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