Price Runs Away From Strong Field At Ash Creek Preserve

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

MONMOUTH, Ore. -- Jonas Price of Eisenhower added mileage and lifting and cracked down a bit more on his diet. 

The work seems to have paid off. The senior was the class of a high quality boys race Saturday at Ash Creek Preserve on the campus of Western Oregon University. He ran 31 seconds faster than his winning time in 2018, and 20 seconds under the course record, with 15:02.2.

"I felt good," Price said. "I was a little nervous going into it. I have never really taken a race after the first mile like that before."

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Price expected to go up against Ashland OR's Evan Holland, the NXR Northwest champion and preseason US#4. 

But Holland played the part of coach Saturday, huddling his teammates and offering instructions at the starting line. He has readjusted his racing schedule in order to be a little bit fresher at the end of the season and plans to join his teammates in a couple of weeks. 

"I think I would have liked to race him," Price said. "I feel like if he was in that race we would have gone under 15 (minutes) for sure."

As it was, Price had pursuers. The top five boys all ran under the previous 15:22 meet record. 

Franklin junior Charlie Robertson ran 15:06.3 for second place and Holland's teammate, Reed Pryor, was third in 15:13.9. Robertson's teammate, Aidan Palmer, was fourth in 15:16.4 and Dublin CA senior Christopher Middleton-Pearson was fifth in 15:18.5.

It wasn't an especially big meet, with just 11 teams. Middleton-Pearson of Dublin, escaping the heat and the enormous fields of California, even called the meet "cute."

But there was quality in the field, with three Top 50 preseason boys teams. 

No. 14 Jesuit, running without one of its top runners, Jack Bennett, beat No. 50 Franklin, 57-58. US#26 Dublin was third with 74. And Ashland scored 105. 

"Racing with the Oregon guys was really good, because who knows, I might be back up here (in December)," Middleton-Pearson said. 

Dublin's pack moved up over the last mile but couldn't bridge the gap to Jesuit and Franklin, who figure to be two of the top 6A teams in Oregon. 

Price, 28th in the Preseason Top 100, faces a a big race with the one of the other top runners in Washington, Wil Smith of Lewis & Clark, at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational later this month. 

Beyond that, Price would like to try and challenge the legendary 26-year-old record at the Sunfair Inviational, which belongs to Mead's Matthew Davis, who ran 14:48 on the challenging 3-mile course at Yakima's Franklin Park in 1993.  

Lincoln's freshman prodigy, Kate Peters, won her first high school 5K and broke the meet record with 17:48.7. 

"My goal was to win and try to break the meet record," said Peters, who seized control and kept pushing after the first 400 meters. 

Running on the same course where she won the state's middle school championship a year ago, Peters beat Franklin's Autumn Ort by 10 seconds. Ort was second in 17:58.8 and Jesuit's Alexis Kebbe was third in 18:00.2.

Jesuit packed five girls into the top nine and won the varsity competition with 35 points. Lincoln was second with 46 and Franklin was third with 77.