Usually the state championship is as far as you can go in high school sports. But that’s not the case for elite prep cross country teams like Class 5A state girls champion Summit of Bend.
The Storm will be racing at the NXN Northwest Regional Championships in Boise Idaho this Saturday against the best teams from Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. Looking for a spot in the Nike National championships in Portland.
“The girls will be running in the championship division and hope to qualify for the NXN Nationals in Portland in December. They are legitimately one of the best teams in the Northwest, and if they run well, we have an excellent chance of making it,” said Summit coach Dave Clark.
Going to NXN for the Summit girls are: Megan Fristoe, Kellie Schueler, Eirann Cohen, Brit Oliphant, Kira Kelly, Sara Fristoe, Mackenzie Naffziger and Tess Nelson.
“The guys are running in the open division and are going for the experience and to support our girls. We have a solid core of very talented underclassman, and this squad has a promising future”
The Summit boys include: Travis Neuman, Pat Madden, Camercon Clark, Mike Widmer, Sammy Naffziger, Ryan St.Clair and Alex Needham.
“The underclassman girls ran as a team in junior Olympics and won state, the Northwest and got 6th in the Nation a few years back. They were all from Cascade middle school, with the exception of Jessica Wolfe (standout at Mountain View),” added Clark.
The young team was coached by Clark.
Also looking to qualify to Nationals from Oregon will be the Jesuit girls (ranked No. 1 in the Northwest), Crater boys (4th) and Central Catholic boys (5th).
– Pat Madden