Athletics East Running Club members earned the right to participate at the USATF Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin on December 14. In the group photo are, from left to right, Juan Diego Contreras (TD), Friedrich Stelzer (Dufur), Samuel Alvarez (TD), Omar Quintana-Roque (HR), Taylor Fox (La Grande), Braedon Blakeney (HR), Jordyn Murphy (Pendleton), Caitie Wring (TD), Emily Johnson (TD), and Kallyn Wilkins (Condon). At last weekend’s Region 13 Meet held at Lane Community College in Eugene, the boys team captured second-place honors, while the short-handed girls team had four runners finish in the top-16 out of 30 runners.
Athletics East Running Club members earned the right to participate at the USATF Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin on December 14. In the group photo are, from left to right, Juan Diego Contreras (TD), Friedrich Stelzer (Dufur), Samuel Alvarez (TD), Omar Quintana-Roque (HR), Taylor Fox (La Grande), Braedon Blakeney (HR), Jordyn Murphy (Pendleton), Caitie Wring (TD), Emily Johnson (TD), and Kallyn Wilkins (Condon). At last weekend’s Region 13 Meet held at Lane Community College in Eugene, the boys team captured second-place honors, while the short-handed girls team had four runners finish in the top-16 out of 30 runners.
The Athletics East program already had a season full of highlights and records, and there was another chapter added to the book this past weekend at the USATF Region 13 Meet, held at Lane Community College in Eugene, as all 16 runners on the roster qualified for nationals, and Juan Diego Contreras claimed first place overall.
For the first time ever, the boys will field a full team to contend with the top harriers in the nation.
“All of the kids are dedicated and hard-working,” said AE Administrator Angela Hanson.
“Distance running is not for everyone, so the fact that these kids take their season to the very edge and are willing to compete in the elements provided by Wisconsin in December shows their strength,” Hanson said.
In his regional champion performance, Contreras (The Dalles) posted a solid final time of 16 minutes and nine seconds, shaving 32 seconds off the time he set last month at state.
Also competing in the 15-to-16-year-old category, Taylor Fox (La Grande), placed 29th in the field with a time of 18:05.
Running in the 17-to-18 class, Braedon Blakeney (Hood River) took home third place after his 16:34, Friedrich Stelzer (Dufur) was good for fifth following a 16:49, and Omar Quintana-Roque (Hood River) scored eighth place (17:35).
Due to illness, injury and other commitments, the 15-to-16-year-old girls were down to four runners, so they had to qualify individually against 30 other participants.
Leading the AE squad was Jordyn Murphy (Pendleton), who secured 11th place with her top mark of 21:20.
Emily Johnson (The Dalles) was one spot behind Murphy with a 12th-place rally of 21:30, a personal record, Caitie Wring (The Dalles) placed 14th in 22:00, and Condon’s Kallyn Wilkins timed out in 22:47 for 16th place.
Last month, the AE runners made program history at the USATF State Championships held at Western Oregon University, with the girls claiming their first-ever first-place trophy, while the boys clinched second place.
Although all 16 runners earned their spots for nationals, Contreras, Alvarez, Stelzer, Blakeney, Quintana-Roque, Johnson and Murphy are the seven members expected to make the trip to Wisconsin for action on Dec. 14,
The two girls are slated to compete as individuals while the five boys will hit the course both as individuals and as a team.
At nationals last December in Reno, Nev., the boys finished 13th out of 19 teams.
Contreras and Stelzer became the second and third All-American cross country champions after their top-25 finishes, and Fox nearly found his way onto the All-American list with his 40th place output while facing 245 other runners.
Nick Caracciolo, David Wring, Spencer Coburn, Gavin Cates, Johnson, Caitie Wring, and Liz Tapia were also on last year’s nationals-qualifying squad.
Two weeks ahead of nationals, AE head coach Russ Nichols, from Heppner, has already designed workouts to prepare his athletes for maximum performance on the national stage.
Given the extra costs of travel and lodging, Hanson and the team members are hoping to fundraise money to make this once-in-a-lifetime trip a reality.
If anyone would like to donate to get these athletes to nationals, please contact Hanson at angela.dietz.hanson@gmail.com or call 541-980-3191.
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