Camila Noe leads Bozeman back to NXN; James Mwaura repeats

By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

BOISE, Idaho — A muddy Eagle Island State Park course did not take away from what ended up being a record day at Nike Cross Regionals Northwest.

Thirty minutes apart, both the girls and boys course records were broken by Bozeman MT senior Camila Noe and Lincoln (Tacoma) WA senior James Mwaura.

Noe, the Montana Class AA champion, covered the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 13.4 seconds to claim the girls championship race, pulling away after building a considerable lead through two miles.

The time was not only a course record, but a personal record for Noe by 15 seconds. 

“I definitely wanted to be under 17:10. That was my biggest, biggest goal,” Noe said. “I was pretty happy with today. I basically wanted to stick to the plan of sticking behind the top three girls and making a move and hopefully breaking off at some point in the race. I just felt really good and really on.”

Noe defeated Mountain View ID sophomore Lexy Halladay by 17 seconds. The first time the two met, on Sept. 23 at the Bob Firman Invitational, Halladay won and Noe was third. 

Shortly after Halladay crossed the finish line in 17:30.2, Noe turned around to face her and the two embraced, all smiles.

“She’s a great competitor and she’s just so sweet,” Noe said.

Noe led Bozeman to Nike Cross Nationals for the third straight year. The team scored 76 points to win easily and Jesuit OR was second with 120 to gain the second automatic qualifying berth. Summit OR (Storm Over Bend) was third.

Wyoming will send three girls as individual qualifiers -- freshman Sydney Thorvaldson, junior Mackenzie Marler and senior Aubrey Frentheway.

Mwaura was all by himself with the lead in the boys championship race. He hit the NXR finish line banner held by Olympic 1,500-meter champion Matthew Centrowitz in 15:06.7, raising his hands to wave as he did so.

Mwaura, who broke the 15-minute barrier for a 5K race for the first time last week as he defended his Washington Class 3A title, became a back-to-back NXR Northwest champion. 

“Last year I just wanted to come out and see what I could do,” Mwaura said. “This year I knew I was in the top, so I knew I had to take a lead somewhere in there and hopefully have a good race.”

Although Mwaura’s win Saturday was not in doubt, second place was more of a battle. Bozeman senior Duncan Hamilton edged Bonneville ID sophomore Stetson Moss, 15:16.8 to 15:17.2. Nate Pendleton of Eastlake WA and Nicholas Russell of Bishop Kelley ID were fourth and fifth to earn individual berths to NXN.

The finish sent Hamilton, a returning member of last year’s Nike Cross National champion boys team, to nationals again while Moss qualified for his first. Idaho’s 5A state champion, Moss led Idaho finishers in Saturday’s boys championship race. He is the first Bonneville runner to advance to a national championship race since Jed Barta made it to Foot Locker in 1998.

“I really just wanted to go out and run the race of my life and see what happens,” Moss said. “Near the end of the last mile, (Hamilton) had like 25 to 30 meters on me and I almost caught him at the end.” 

While Bozeman added to its NXR success in the girls race, the race for the top two boys slots did not go as expected. Eighth-ranked Jesuit OR ran without injured leader Josh Schumacher and fell back to sixth. Andy Monroe of No. 13 Crater OR hobbled through the race on an injured foot and finished 39th and his team placed third.

Instead, it was Central Valley WA (Loyal Sons of Ireland), the Washington Class 4A runner-up, taking the team title with 113 points. And Kamiakin WA (Brave Souls), the Washington Class 3A champion, was second with 121 points.  

“We went out there and tried to take it,” Central Valley senior Gabe Romney said. “We didn’t know how the points stacked up. We knew we were in the top four or five but…it was pretty special to hear our names called.”

It's Central Valley's first trip to NXN and Kamiakin's second.  

“Race and have a great time, make memories together and run our best,” Central Valley senior Fielding Demars said, looking ahead to the national championship. 

NXN Qualifiers

Girls

Teams - Bozeman MT and Jesuit OR

Individuals - Lexy Halladay ID, Sydney Thorvaldson WY, Mackenzie Marler WY, Aubrey Frentheway WY, Yukino Parle WA

Boys 

Teams - Central Valley WA and Kamiakin WA

Individuals - James Mwaura WA, Duncan Hamilton MT, Stetson Moss ID, Nate Pendleton WA, Nicholas Russell ID