The Jesuit girls high school cross country team from Portland will be going for their 9th-straight big-school Oregon state championship this year and they spent the past week training in Central Oregon. I caught up with (they weren’t running at the time – otherwise I wouldn’t have caught up with them) seniors to be Annamarie Maag, Payton Schutte and Shannon Mahoney while they were in C.O.

Maag is the two-time defending Class 6A state champion and her teammate Schutte is the second-fastest XC runner in the entire state. Mahoney is the 5th fastest senior in 6A based on last year’s state meet. While they were here the girls and their Jesuit teammates enjoyed runs on the Deschutes river trail, a loop through Drake Park, a hike up Smith Rock and lots of other C.O. activities including floating the river.

“It’s nice to switch it up and do something different,” said Schutte, who noted that they log a lot of miles running in the same places in the Portland area.

Jesuit, under coach Tom Rothenberger, has its sites set on more than just another state title. They will be looking for big post-state success, including a strong showing at the Nike Team Nationals at Portland Meadows racetrack. Expect another monster year from the Crusaders!

Annamarie Maag

Payton Schutte

Shannon Mahoney

Jesuit’s Annamarie Maag selected Gatorade girls runner of the year

OREGON
INDIVIDUALS
• Annamarie Maag, Jesuit – Back-to-back state 6A titles, ends the decade on top and starts the next one right there.
• Brianna Anderson-Gregg, Philomath – 3 3A state titles.
• Kimber Mattox, Bend – When she wasn’t playing soccer, she was dominating in cross country. 2004 state champion.
• Ilsa Paulson, Sherwood – Back-to-back 3A titles.
• Taylor Wallace, Henley – Back-to-back 4A titles, fastest time of 2007.
• Peyton Schutte, Jesuit – She may never win an individual title, but that doesn’t mean she’s not one of the fastest of the decade. 2nd in state as a junior, 5th as a sophomore and 12th as a freshman and all three teams crushed at state.
• Ashley Baldovino, Lakeview – 3 small school state titles and one runner up.

OREGON TEAMS
• Jesuit 2009 – They won 8 of 10 state titles and 2009 was their best squad… oh yeah, and all seven of them are back next year.
• Crater 2007 – 5A champs scoring just 16 points.
• Summit 2009 – 21 points @ state to win 5A. 3rd best score of all time!

CENTRAL OREGON
INDIVIDUALS
• Alyssa O’Connor, Summit – 3rd in state as a freshman. Battled back from several injuries. 3rd in state as a senior.
• Emily McMahon Mountain View – 3rd in state as a junior.
• Kimber Mattox, Bend – When she wasn’t playing soccer, she was dominating in cross country. 2004 state champion.
• Kellie Foley, Crook County – 2008 Class 5A state champion. Didn’t run in 2009.
• Kellie Schueler, Summit – 4th in state as a senior. 5th in state as a junior. 10th in state as a sophomore.
• Michelly Foley, Crook County – 2007 Class 5A state champion. Didn’t run in 2009.
• Megan Fristoe, Summit – 2009 Class 5A state champion.

CENTRAL OREGON TEAMS
• Summit 2009 – 21 points @ state. 3rd best score of all time!
• Mountain View 2000 – Class 4A (big schools) state champions.

Annamarie Maag – Fastest female in the state. Two-time 6A champion, going for a third next year.
Baldovino, Ashley – 3-time small school state champion.
Central Catholic – 6A boys’ champions.
Drew Jordan – 2-time 6A individual state champion.
Elliott, Josh – 2-time 5A individual state champion. Member of 4 state championship teams!
Franklin – Home of junior Ian Burgess, who took 3rd @ 6A state and should content for the individual title next year.
Girls – In Oregon XC, girls run the same courses as the boys and get the same deserved attention… the way it should be.
Henley – 4A boys state champions
Intermountain Conference – With the realignment slated for next year, teams from the IMC well now be in a hybrid league. The IMC was dominant @ 5A girls state, claiming the top 7 spots individually.
Jesuit – Have won a record 8-straight state-girls titles.
Kevin Kavanaugh – From Beaverton, one of the faster freshmen in recent Oregon history.
Linn – West Linn that is, was the top public school in the Class 6A boys meet. With Cullen Wannarka and Taylor West back they should be among the best next year.
Megan Fristoe – 5A state champion as a sophomore for Summit.
Nike – Borderclash and NXN… it’s good to live in Oregon!
O’Neill, Kelly – Freshmen from Lakeridge, 5th @ State (18:54) fastest freshman girl in 6A.
Payton Schutte – Second only to her Jesuit teammate Maag as the fastest girl in Oregon.
Quick – Summit’s Kellie Schueler was 4th @ 5A state XC, not bad for one of Oregon’s most accomplished sprinters of all time!
Raelyn Robinson – 4A girls champion from Siuslaw.
Summit – Back-to-back 5A girls titles.
Tolbert, Jed – 4A state champion from Henley.
Union – After winning the small school state title in 2008, they finished second in 2009 to Nyssa.
Valley Catholic – Austin Lundin of VC was the top underclassman in the small school girls race.
Watson, Cole – Small school state champion
XC – 2 letters, sums it all up ☺
Young – Oregon has lots of young talent right now. One “young” team was 4A girls champion Marist. Among their 7 runners @ state were three freshmen and a sophomore.
Zuber Ahmed – The Benson star may have graduated a while ago, but his younger brothers Musa and Wasil were a part of this year’s Central Catholic’s state championship squad.

The North side of the border came out on top in the annual Borderclash prep cross country race at the Nike World Campus in Beaverton, OR.

Washington beat Oregon 15-50 in the boys race and 19-44 in the girls race.

Sisters’ Parker Bennett had an outstanding race, finishing the 4,400-meter course in 14:44.45 as the fourth fastest Oregon runner, taking 18th overall. Washington’s Shane Moskowitz won the boys race in a time of 14:06.29. The top Oregon placer was Jesuit’s Ben Demaree, who was 11th in 14:32.55. Also racing from Central Oregon were Summit’s Pat Madden (50th 15:14.02) and Travis Neuman (71st 15:45.17).

Washington’s Amy-Eloise Neale won the girls 4,400-meter race in 16:37.10. Jesuit’s Annamarie Maag (the 6A state champion) was second in 16:38.23. Summit’s Megan Fristoe was the fifth fastest Oregon runner (25th 17:36.73). The Intermountain Conference was well represented, as Hermiston’s Angelica Rodriguez was 8th for Oregon (17:43.33), Summit’s Eirann Cohen was 10th (17:51.97) and Summit’s Brit Oliphant was 12th (17:56.18).

FULL RESULTS.

Central Oregon will be well represented at the 11th annual Borderclash Oregon vs Washington Cross County race Sunday at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton.

The Borderclash features the top prep runners from Oregon and Washington based on their placing at the state meets. It is one of the unique sporting events that Cross County has to offer, an event tough to duplicate in many other sports.

Competing from Central Oregon: Boys – Travis Neuman, Summit; Pat Madden, Summit and Parker Bennett, Sisters. Girls – Megan Fristoe, Summit; Kellie Schueler, Summit; Kira Kelly, Summit; Brit Oliphant, Summit; Eirann Cohen, Summit; Jessica Wolfe, Mountain View and Jenna Mattox, Bend.

Oregon won the girls race last year, while Washington won the boys race. This year’s favorites include, Jesuit’s Annamarie Maag in the girls race and Rogue River’s Cole Watson in the boys race. The Washington boys look tough once again with a full load of fast racers.

Taylor Wallace, then of Henley, won the girls race last year. The last Oregon boy to win the race was Central Catholic’s Kenny Klotz back in 2005.
• Complete team rosters.
• Past results.