Summit girls, Kamiakin boys win a stacked NXR Northwest

Oregon's Evan Holland, Wyoming's Sydney Thorvaldson claim individual titles

By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

EAGLE ISLAND STATE PARK, Idaho -- One NXR Northwest championship team pushed through a tight team race to secure its second consecutive NXN bid while another won convincingly Saturday.

A year after taking second to fellow Washington team Central Valley at this same meet, the Kamiakin boys of Kennewick took first over Central Valley 86-91 in a race where the top three teams were separated by single digits. On the girls side, U.S. No. 1 Summit OR placed five runners in the top 35 to win with an impressive low score of 54 -- a 52-point margin over second-place Jesuit OR -- in a race that featured six teams in DyeStat's most recent national rankings. Boise (third) and Hellgate (fourth) are on the bubble for possible at-large consideration.

Kamiakin's title not only came by a thin margin, but with a few other nerve-wracking factors. Stanford Smith, one of Kamiakin's top five scoring runners, fell behind early after being spiked and still placed 27th overall in 15:57.90 despite running without a shoe the second half of the race. Additionally, head coach Matt Rexus said his runners had to step up due to his usual No. 5 runner being out with an illness.

"I was probably feeling more nervous than they were, I think," Rexus said. "I try not to let them know that. I told them at the beginning of the summer, in cross country, there are not many teams that get to go in back to back years (to NXN). Something happens and you have to be prepared to step up. That's the kind of team they are."

Smith, who said he was spiked within the first 200 meters, chose to abandon that shoe after the first mile. He was able to find it, bloodied,on the course after the race and he had to get stitches for his cuts.

"I knew it was gonna be easier to run with a sock than to try to put that spike back on," he said. "There were a lot of rocks, too. This race is probably the hardest (race) I've run."

While Rexus said he didn't notice Smith running with one shoe, Smith's teammates did. Ryan Child and Porter Grigg, who finished in 15:33.6 and 15:56.9 for ninth and 26th place, respectively, said they both knew the pressure was on due to Smith's circumstances.

"Usually during the race, I hear all the Kamiakin parents cheering for me and I hear them cheer for Stanford soon after," Child said. "I couldn't hear that at all today. I was freaking out a little then."

"I knew about it the whole race," Grigg added. "I was just passing as many people as I could."

While the victory margin was not nearly as tight on the girls side Saturday, the  nationally ranked teams drew ample attention. Summit's No. 1 ranking was shared during the race introductions, as were the rankings of Boise (No. 5), Jesuit (No. 7), North Central (No. 11), Hellgate (No. 16) and Eagle (No. 20). Fiona Max, the top finisher for the Storm with a sixth place time of 17:44.6, said while Summit acknowledges its ranking and the expectations that come with it, the members of the team determine their destiny.

"At the end of the day, you have to bring about the result," Max said. "You have the chance. It's up to you to determine the outcome."

Summit's win comes a year after placing third at this meet. Max said that finish allowed the Storm to look ahead to this year, and they arrived confident Saturday.

"Summit has been pretty consistent at this meet," Max said. "We were definitely on the edge for that bid spot last year. It just motivated us for this year. We've done the training. We've focused on recovery. Things aligned."

Individual titles went to runners from Oregon and Wyoming this year. Ashland OR junior Evan Holland claimed the boys race in 15:10.4 and Rawlins WY sophomore Sydney Thorvaldson won the girls race in 17:24.1.

Holland described the win as redeeming after rolling his ankle at last year's NXR Northwest and dropping out about a mile left. He said he arrived at this year's meet a few days early to get more comfortable with the course.

"That was really disappointing to come all the way out here and not even finish," Holland said. "I don't feel like that performance reflected how good of shape I was in and how my season had gone so far. It really gave me a lot of motivation for this year to really stay fit and stay healthy, stay hungry for the win here."

Thorvaldson's win comes a year after she placed third as a freshman to advance to NXN with two other Wyoming girls, Cheyenne East's Mackenzie Marler and Cheyenne Central's Aubrey Frentheway. Thorvaldson was undefeated entering last year's race, and Saturday maintained an undefeated sophomore season.

"It was super hard to kinda maintain what I did last year because I just had an amazing season," Thorvaldson said. "I just really wanted to continue doing things like this and I wanted to make it nationals again. I think I accomplished everything I wanted to."

Borah ID sophomore Nathan Green, Thunder Ridge ID junior Stetson Moss, Mt. Si WA senior Joe Waskom and Lewis and Clark WA junior Wil Smith rounded out the top five individual finishers on the boys side. Billings MT senior Tiahna Vladic, Bellarmine Prep WA freshman Ella Borsheim,  Issaquah WA sophomore Julia David-Smith and Twin Falls ID  junior Mattalyn Geddes claimed the other top five spots in the girls race.

With their spots secured, the attention now goes to NXN on Dec. 1. The Kamiakin boys said they look forward to a second consecutive shot at NXN, adding that 'there's no other team' they'd rather go with from NXR Northwest than Central Valley.

"We got 17th last year," Child said. "We felt like we could have done better."

"We're gonna run with all our hearts," Grigg added.

This will be the first NXN experience for Max, a junior on a Summit team full of underclassmen. 

"We have to stay humble," Max said. "We're going to keep our focus and see how it goes."

Holland said he is hoping for a top-10 finish in Portland.

"I really didn't have any benchmark that I was coming in with for NXN," Holland said. "Doing as well as I did here today and I've been feeling really good for these last couple weeks, so I think top 10 is realistic."

Thorvaldson placed ninth last year in her NXN debut and said she hopes the meet is just as fun this year.

"I don't know if I can top off my finish last year," Thorvaldson said. "It was just a great experience. I want to be All-American again."

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