Zane Fodge Among Those Celebrating After Life On NXN Bubble

By Doug Binder, Dyestat Editor

Zane Fodge waited two weeks for something good to happen. 

Saturday night, the senior from McMinnville OR refreshed the NXN webpage over and over until the at-large selections were announced. 

He wasn't hoping to see his own name. He needed to see Lewis and Clark High of Spokane (South Central Spokane) chosen as one of the four at-large team selections. 

Finally, it popped up. 

Fodge, the sixth-place individual in the Northwest regional, was pulled into the NXN field when fifth-place finisher Wil Smith of Lewis and Clark made it with his team.

"Whoo!" Fodge exlaimed Saturday night. "I'm ecstatic right now."

Fodge monitored Saturday's developments while on a group chat with some of the top runners in the region.

"We had Wil Smith and his whole team in one chat and E.J. (Holland), Joe Waskom, Stetson Moss and some other guys in there," Fodge said. "When it refreshed, we all celebrated."

Fodge made it to NXN as a sophomore in 2016 and then was left out last year when he took ninth in the regional. 

In the past month, Fodge had endured a couple of disappointing results. At the Oregon state meet, he went out too hard in the first two miles and paid for it at the finish. Despite hitting the track for the final 300 meters at Lane Community College in first place, he was caught by those who had left something for the finish. He was seventh. 

Then, at NXR Northwest, Fodge ran well enough to take sixth -- missing fifth place and automatic berth by 1.3 seconds. 

"It means the world to me," Fodge said. "It means a lot to get to this point where I was two years ago, and improving from that. I'm growing again and starting to set new PRs and it's super-important to me. It's awesome. I cannot wait to race at Glendoveer again. It's so much fun."

Fodge was one of three athletes who got upgraded to the top five individuals on non-qualifying teams when the at-large selections were released. But his two-week wait on the bubble was the longest. Last Monday he ran a mile repeat workout in the Coast Range that he called his best workout of the season.

Fodge's hope stemmed from the fact that Lewis and Clark had finished just one point from second-place Central Valley WA. 

The news was also, obviously, joyously received by Lewis and Clark and coach Michael Lee.

"It was stressful," Lee said. "The boys have been dialed in to it and watching all the results and I've been letting it to go the universe, whatever will happen will happen. (Saturday) I got a little more into it and I was getting updates (from the runners on the team). We couldn't have made it any closer with that one point. But just because we're close, doesn't mean we get a spot."

The announcements of eight at-large teams (four boys, four girls) wasn't without some controversy. 

The girls from Downers Grove South IL expected to be selected weren't, despite a third-place finish in the NXR Midwest regional and victories during the regular season over the auto qualifying teams in the Heartland. 

Some parents had even bought airline tickets. As usual, the final at-large announcements provided happiness and also some heartbreak. 

It took until Monday morning to confirm the final five at-large individuals --  Ashley LaJocies of Eagle ID (seventh at NXR Northwest), Ember Stratton of Hellgate MT (the 2016 NXN runner-up and eighth at NXR Northwest), Ericka VanderLende (Michigan Division 1 champion), Riley Stewart (seventh at NXR Southwest) and Corie Smith (CIF Central Section champion).

NXN QUALIFIERS